JP Morgan Rewrites the Banks Playbook

JP Morgan's Vivek Juneja swept through the US banking sector on Friday, lifting target prices on six lenders in a single session.

WFC, USB, TFC, RF, PNC, STT, and NTRS all received higher price targets from Juneja. The moves came alongside maintained ratings, suggesting this is a sector re-rating rather than a stock-picking call.

State Street's target moved to $192.50 from $187.50. Northern Trust's target jumped from $185 to $191.50. PNC's target ticked up to $259. All remain Hold-rated except PNC, which carries a Buy.

Separately, colleague Michael Cho raised his target on TROW to $107. The asset manager still carries a Sell from JP Morgan, so the target increase signals valuation floor thinking rather than a view change.

On the downside, ARES took a target cut from $155 to $154 at JP Morgan. Kenneth Worthington kept his Buy rating but trimmed the number ahead of reporting season.

RSG was the standout individual call. JP Morgan analyst Tami Zakaria raised the waste management giant's target by $20 to $265, a notably larger move than the incremental bank tweaks.

SYK saw a slight consensus target drift lower, from $358.58 to $350.42, reflecting a quiet reset in the medtech name.

The ORTEX alternative data layer flags a separate watchlist item. CVNA auto-loan delinquencies in its ABS trusts were 4.6 standard deviations above their own history as of 15 October. No analyst action appeared on Carvana in today's data, but that credit stress reading sits as a potential catalyst for future downgrades.