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What has Wall Street been buzzing about this week? Here is a brief look at the top 5 buy calls and the top 5 sell calls made by Wall Street's best analysts during the trading week of Jan. 20-24, 2025. First, here are the top 5 buy calls of the week.

1. Netflix Upgraded to Outperform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded Netflix (NFLX) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a price target of $1,100 following the Q4 earnings report. The company's "superior scale" led to accelerating financial returns and expanding potential to capture the long-term total addressable market, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Wolfe says Netflix's results and 2025 guidance "buried" its long-standing concerns about a deep slowdown after the 2023-2024 "barrage of password sharing interventions." The company's widening growth strategies, superior scale, and "rich" cash flow position it to extend its lead in long-form video streaming, which continues to take wallet share from pay TV, a $130 billion revenue category in the U.S. alone, contends the firm.

Wolfe thinks "it could be a very, very long time before Netflix reaches a terminal growth rate."

Rosenblatt Upgrades Netflix to Buy, Says 2025 Outlook Looks Beatable

Additionally, Rosenblatt upgraded Netflix to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $1,494, up from $680, after the company "delivered on so many levels" in Q4. With ads ramping, pricing rising, and engagement re-inflecting thanks to broad content strength, the 2025 outlook "now looks beatable," the firm tells investors. Rosenblatt admits it missed Netflix's success in 2024, but now sees more opportunity in 2025, the analyst added.

Netflix Upgraded to Buy at Canaccord

Similarly, Canaccord upgraded Netflix to Buy from Hold with a price target of $1,150, up from $940. Netflix reported strong Q4 results, with paid memberships, revenue, and profitability all coming in ahead of expectations, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Canaccord says the company's content slate for 2025 "appears to be very healthy," with new seasons of highly popular shows like Squid Game, Stranger Things, and Wednesday complemented by a continued ramping of live events. Netflix has demonstrated "clear leadership" in product-market fit, the advertising tier is on track to become a more material revenue driver in fiscal 2026, and its margin expansion and free cash flow generation is consistent, contends the firm.

Netflix Upgraded to Outperform at Bernstein

Bernstein upgraded Netflix to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $1,200, up from $975. The firm believes another year of double-digit subscriber growth is achievable in 2025, driven by international markets.

There are numerous markets with healthy average revenue per membership that are still underpenetrated by Netflix, and recent penetration trends in these markets - fueled by the ad-tier and the company's deliberate growth initiatives - "indicate there are plenty of eyeballs left to entertain," the analyst tells investors in a research note. In addition, Bernstein says Netflix "has recently proven to be a credible destination" for live events.

2. Disney Resumed With a Buy at Citi

Citi resumed coverage of Disney (DIS) with a Buy rating and a price target of $125. While consensus earnings estimates "look a touch high," the stock's risk/reward is attractive at prevailing levels, the firm tells investors in a research note.

At recent levels, Citi sees $13 of share downside and $25 upside. The firm's "bull case" assumes Disney's direct-to-consumer average revenue per user exceeds forecasts, domestic cord cutting is more muted, and investors value Disney at 22-times estimated 2026 earnings. This implies an equity value of around $134 per share.

3. Darden Upgraded to Outperform at Bernstein

Bernstein upgraded Darden (DRI) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $215, up from $180. After a "dismal 2024, the restaurants sector looks relatively inexpensive," the firm tells investors in a research note.

Bernstein sees initial signs of demand recovery, which it believes could sustain the restaurants' momentum in 2025. Darden has upside from improvements in its core middle-income consumer cohort, rollout of UberDirect with marketing support, and efficiency measures supporting margin expansion, contends the firm.

4. 3M Upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo upgraded 3M (MMM) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $170, up from $140. The company is in the "early days of significant margin expansion" in a time of uncertainty about the trajectory of an industrial recovery, which is attractive, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Wells says 3M's willingness to work down cash and do buybacks "is a strong statement" on its confidence in operational execution. After the largest restructuring program in 3M's history, there's still significant cost opportunity ahead to drive better operational execution, contends the firm.

5. General Motors Upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank upgraded General Motors (GM) to Buy from Hold with a $60 price target into the Q4 report. The firm cites General Motors' recent strategic moves in China and Cruise, its "consistent track record of execution," and "aggressive" share buyback trajectory for the upgrade.

While there are concerns about the cycle and potential policy changes under the new Trump administration, these risks are already well known and there's room for positive surprises, Deutsche tells investors in a research note. General Motors stock outperformed Ford (F) significantly in 2024, and 2025 could be "directionally similar," contends the firm.

Next, here are the top 5 sell calls of the week.

1. Jefferies downgrades Apple to Underperform on "Weak" iPhone Sales

Jefferies downgraded Apple (AAPL) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $200.75, down from $211.84. The firm reduced forecasts to reflect "weak" iPhone sales and the general consumer electronics market. It cut its outlook for iPhone 17 and 18 due to slower artificial intelligence uptake and commercialization.

Jefferies expects Apple to miss its revenue growth guidance of 5% fiscal Q1 and guide "to only" low-single-digit revenue growth in Q2, below consensus. The company's AI outlook is "subdued" and industry checks suggest Apple's advanced packaging roadmap for the iPhone may face a delay, which is another negative sign, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Jefferies sees 13% downside in the shares and downgraded Apple to Underperform, its lowest stock rating.

2. Netflix Downgraded to Reduce at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities downgraded Netflix to Reduce from Neutral with a price target of $870, up from $695. The firm cites valuation for the downgrade following the recent share price strength.

Netflix continues to solidify its dominance in the video-on-demand streaming market, expanding its user base while increasing average revenue per member through a combination of premium content and strategic pricing, Phillip Securities tells investors in a research note. However, the firm sees "stretched valuations" at recent share levels.

3. Wendy's Downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded Wendy's (WEN) to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $14, down from $22. The firm sees potential for "slow comp trends," as it thinks Wendy's "is squeezed somewhat by the value wars."

While the company's early Q4 saw "impressive acceleration" from the 'Krabby Patty' limited time offer, that did seem to revert and the history here would suggest that doing this sustainably could be challenging, Morgan Stanley tells investors in a research note. The firm also sees ongoing unit growth challenges for Wendy's.

4. Veeva Double Downgraded to Sell from Buy at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs double downgraded Veeva (VEEV) to Sell from Buy with a price target of $200, down from $261. The firm continues to view Veeva as significantly entrenched in its core Life Sciences customer base, with potential for cross sell over the next decade, though it also sees medium-term risks to the Street and Veeva's 2030 targets, Goldman tells investors in a research note.

Veeva will remain the superior product relative to Salesforce (CRM), which is positioning for share gains, but competition will be an ongoing headwind for the stock, the firm adds, further noting that Veeva's product portfolio as a whole is maturing, making it challenging for newer product cycles such as CDMS to ramp materially enough to drive WholeCo acceleration.

5. JPMorgan Downgrades Acushnet to Underweight, Says Shares are Overvalued

JPMorgan downgraded Acushnet Holdings (GOLF) to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $64, down from $69. The firm reduced fiscal 2025 revenue expectations and sees share downside. JPMorgan's valuation multiple and 2026 EBITDA estimate points to Acushnet shares being overvalued relative to where they've recently been trading.

Longer-term, the company's investment cycle will be a constraint to earnings, translating to flat EBITDA and flat to low-single-digit earnings growth, the firm tells investors in a research note.

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