Top of the Street: Naturgy, ACS, Nexi, Continental, Michelin, HSBC
14/04/2026 12:06
A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts: ** J.P. Morgan upgrades Spanish utility Naturgy NTGY.MC to "overweight" from "neutral", seeing earnings upside in power generation and energy management alongside M&A potential ** Morgan Stanley ups Spanish construction group ACS ACS.MC to "overweight" from "equal-weight" citing its four-year journey from a "complex, largely-ignored contractor" into a major data center (DC) beneficiary ** Goldman Sachs downgrades Italian payments group Nexi NEXII.MI to "neutral" from "buy", saying lack of near-term growth improvement offsets capital returns ** Barclays upgrades Continental CONG.DE to "overweight" from "equal-weight" and Michelin MICP.PA to "equal-weight" from "underweight", saying tyre makers can weather the shock with pass‑through clauses and solid pricing power in replacement markets ** Morgan Stanley cuts UK homebuilders Barratt Redrow BTRW.L "equal weight" from "overweight" and Berkeley Group BKGH.L to "underweight" from "equal weight", reflecting its view that near-term upside is limited without clearer rate support ** Exane BNP Paribas cuts British lender HSBC HSBA.L to "neutral" from "outperform", saying it now prefers Standard Chartered STAN.L amid UK Asian banks ** Citigroup downgrades Sweden-based investment company EQT EQTAB.ST to "neutral" from "buy", saying near-term growth for private markets could prove weaker than currently expected INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS ** BofA Global Research reinstates Swiss food and drink group Nestle NESN.S with "buy", saying volume/mix is set to re-accelerate driven by Petcare, Coffee and Confectionery ** It also reinstates British consumer staples group Reckitt RKT.L with "buy", saying China growth should support 10% growth in emerging markets in 2026 ** It reinstates British consumer staples group Unilever ULVR.L with "buy", citing its leadership in high growth India, being a share winner in the U.S. and a clear capital allocation policy (*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.) (Reporting by Jagoda Darlak and Marta Serafinko in Gdansk) ((jagoda.darlak@tr.com, marta.serafinko@thomsonreuters.com))