Bears Circle Cable and Power Giants

Wall Street turned sharply negative on two large-cap names this week. The calls are notable — one is a fresh Sell initiation, the other a rare Buy-to-Hold step down.

CHTR took the hardest blow. Wolfe Research analyst John Janedis cut the stock to Sell from Hold, setting a $118 target. Charter carries a $16.7B market cap and short interest already sits at 10.1% of free float. That puts it among the more shorted names in US telecoms.

GEV faces a contrarian challenge. GLJ Research initiated the $255B energy-tech giant with a Sell and a $470 target — above market but bearish relative to the consensus bullish view. 29 of 36 analysts still rate it a Buy. GLJ is betting against the crowd.

HPE also took a step down. Evercore ISI's Amit Daryanani moved the server maker to Hold from Buy, keeping his $65 target unchanged. The maintained target suggests the cut is more about valuation than fundamentals.

On the positive side, Keybanc initiated JKHY with a Buy and a $190 price target. The fintech firm serves community banks and has 12 Buy ratings from analysts. The initiation adds fresh institutional interest to a name with a loyal shareholder base.