BUZZ-Top of the Street: Atlas Copco, Osram, GEA, Schneider, Weir, ING, BAE Systems

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:

** Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) cuts ratings on Swedish industrial co Atlas Copco (LSE: 0R82.L - news) , Frankfurt-listed Osram and German food-processing equipment maker GEA to "sell", downgrades French Schneider Electric to "hold" and ups London-listed Weir to "buy"

** SocGen (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) believes Atlas Copco's earnings momentum looks vulnerable to declines in semis, autos and general industrial end markets

** Fears Osram's FY19 guidance is at risk amid tough automotive and consumer LED backdrop that likely drove a "very weak" Q1 2019

** Expects series of disappointing news from GEA to continue and doubts co will be able to improve working capital much

** Brokerage still sees Schneider's positioning and cost agility as potential source of outperformance, but expects the stock to struggle in absolute terms as macroeconomic conditions deteriorate

** Upgrades Weir on hopes co's Mineral biz (>70 pct of profits) with its potential high single-digit organic growth will re-establish itself as core driver of earnings in 2019

** Five-star broker Credit Suisse (IOB: 0QP5.IL - news) ups Dutch financial services group ING to "neutral" arguing co offers a structural growth story with a well-established European retail franchise, and risks to consensus are largely captured in valuation

** Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) raises rating on British defense co to "equal weight" saying co's mid-single digit organic rev growth and earnings growth are in line with US defense primes and should deliver attractive cash profile and higher returns

(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. Scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being best. Analysts ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)