ACCELERATING UNIT GROWTH: Oppenheimer analyst Brian Bittner upgraded Wendy's ($WEN) to Outperform from Perform with a $29 price target following his investor meetings with management. The analyst believes the company has discovered "powerful tools" to unlock unit growth starting in 2022, which appears underestimated by consensus and underappreciated by the stock's 18% valuation discount to peers. Importantly, his updated analysis also highlights a path for outperforming fundamentals with a strong case for same-store sales upside in the second half of 2021 along with measurable tailwinds in 2022 - particularly as breakfast strengthens and as digital gains ramp. BUY VIACOMCBS: Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall upgraded ViacomCBS ($VIAC) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $60, up from $45. The analyst believes the company's streaming efforts are "bearing fruit" and have impressed him, and therefore he is moving from "historical bears to constructive bulls." The upcoming slate for Paramount+ should maintain the ViacomCBS's momentum, and the company is "one of the better bets for industry consolidation," Cahall told investors in a research note. A "Hulu-esque valuation" for streaming drives the analyst's $60 price target. 'FLOOD' OF CHALLENGING QUESTIONS: Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter downgraded Vroom ($VRM) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $30, down from $54. After what he calls "a flood of challenging investor questions" post the company's second quarter report, he admits that it is hard to defend his long-term margin assumptions "now that unexpected spending initiatives have become a routine occurrence." SELL CANADIAN SOLAR: GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson downgraded Canadian Solar ($CSIQ) to Sell from Buy with an $18 price target. While Canadian Solar remains the "best house in a bad neighborhood," the analyst sees substantial downside risk near-term. With a structural change in demand for Canadian Solar's panels in its highest-margin market afoot, Johnson sees "unquantifiable risk in the offing, and thus assume a more draconian bias." Further, the analyst noted that with his checks suggesting Biden's Withhold Release Order against silicon metal bellwether Hoshine is causing Canadian Solar's solar panels to be detained at U.S. ports, exacerbated by his intelligence telling us it may take 7-12 months for the company to develop the confirmatory/traceability capability up through poly-silicon to prove it is not using Hoshine's material, he sees a sharp hit to Canadian Solar's reported margins, EBITDA, and cash flow as likely near-term. NEXT-GEN VCARD SOLUTIONS SUCCESS: Truist analyst Andrew Jeffrey initiated coverage of Marqeta ($MQ) with a Buy rating and $37 price target. The analyst is positive on the company's next-gen vCard solutions, which offer faster and more flexible issuing and processing to emerging growth names like Square ($SQ), DoorDash ($DASH) and Affirm ($AFRM). Jeffrey added that while the company has found initial success with emerging growth customers, its long-term value creation will accompany penetration of legacy issuers in the $3T U.S. debit and prepaid issuing market.Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. Readers should do their own research before making decisions to buy or sell securities. Trading and investing include risks, including loss of principal. If you liked this article, please click the LIKE (thumbs up) button. Feel free to leave any comments, question, or opinions. (Sign-up if you haven't already done so). Follow us/bookmark us and check back occasionally for additional articles or comments on our page... Wild Tiger Trading - start/main page. .