MSN Money:
Stocks may have hit all-time highs again after the massive recovery since March, but the volatility has picked up in September, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq darlings seeing more selling pressure. Friday’s indications were for gains of 0.5% on average, but Thursday’s sell-off had the indexes back close to the lows for this week.
Many investors missed out on the recovery rally and are now looking for new ideas about how they want to be positioned ahead of the election.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.
Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Friday, September 11, 2020.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and its price target was raised to $555 from $400 at Cowen. Shares closed down about 0.7% at $476.26 ahead of the call and were indicated up 3.3% at $492.00 on Friday. The consensus target price was $462.36.
Advanced Micro Devices Corp. (NASDAQ: AMD) may not have received an equity upgrade, but ratings agency Moody’s has raised its credit rating to “investment-grade” as the firm issued a three-notch upgrade to Baa3 from Ba3 on its senior unsecured debt. AMD closed down 3.6% at $78.98 a share on Thursday, but shares were indicated up more than 1% at $79.90 on Friday morning.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the movie industry is in duress, and theaters are getting the brunt of the blow. Shares last closed at $5.94 and have a consensus price target of just $3.93.
ChampionX Corp. (NYSE: CHX) was started as Outperform with a $13 price target (versus an $8.84 prior close) at Credit Suisse. It had a $14.76 consensus target price ahead of the call. The 52-week trading range is $2.89 to $34.80.
Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ: CHND) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock is globally recognized for its iconic horse racing event, the Kentucky Derby. Shares most recently closed at $169.96 and have a consensus price target of $188.00.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $38 from $34 at Argus, which talked up company expectations of sequential sales growth in low-teen percentages in the third quarter that was better than expected. The stock closed down 3.6% at $31.88 on Thursday, with a $29.79 consensus target price.
Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and its target price was raised to $450 from $445 at Cowen, with the firm highlighting its proactive steps to build on its strong foundation over the pandemic and its ability to win in delivery and takeout.
Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was reiterated as Buy with a $380 price alongside a target price of $380 (versus a $346.11 close) at Argus. The independent research firm talked up the recently alternative to polymerase chain reaction testing that may reduce significant testing capacity constraints in the COVID-19 fight.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $28 from $27 (versus a $22.85 close) at Raymond James. It had a $25.00 consensus target price ahead of the call.
Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was maintained as Buy and its target price was raised to $94 from $88 at BTIG. Shares closed down 0.4% at $75.50 on Thursday, with a $77.07 prior consensus target price.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was down 1.2% at $320.00 on Thursday in the post-earnings trading. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Equal Weight rating based on valuations, but the firm still raised its target price to $320 from $306.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) managed to beat earnings and revenue expectations with its increased focus on the cloud and with people working from home. Morgan Stanley maintained its Equal Weight rating but raised its target to $62 from $58, and RBC Capital Markets raised its target to $60 from $51 while maintaining a Sector Perform rating. Piper Sandler maintained Oracle as Neutral and raised the target to $50 from $44. Shares were up 0.67% at $57.33 ahead of earnings, with a $55.20 consensus price target. The stock was indicated up over 5% at $59.80 on Friday morning.
Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON) closed down 3.75% at $87.75 ahead of earnings, but the stock was last seen trading up almost 14% at $99.80 in Friday morning’s post-earnings reaction, as this marked its first profitable report. Truist Securities reiterated its Buy rating and raised its longer-term price target to $115 from $60, based on more conviction that its model is sticky. Also, Raymond James reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $109 from $65, and Rosenblatt reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $130 from $105. KeyBanc Capital markets reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target to $120 from $74.
RedHill Biopharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: RDHL) was started with a Buy rating a $26 target price (versus a $10.16 close, after a 7.8% gain) at BTIG.
Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: STSA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse after the stock fell about 76% to $5.62 on Thursday when its migraine study was deemed to be nearly the worst case.
Select Interior Concepts Inc. (NASDAQ: SIC) was started with a Buy rating and a $10 target price (versus a $6.32 close) at Truist.
SunPower Corp (NASDAQ: SPWR) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $13 from $10 at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed down 9.1% at $10.66 on Thursday, with an $8.56 consensus target price and a 52-week trading range of $2.64 to $12.46.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was maintained as Neutral at UBS, with some caution about the current price after the split, but the firm still raised it to $326 from $160 in this call, as another catch-up call ahead of its September 22 Battery Day event. Tesla closed up 1.4% at $371.34 on Thursday, and it was indicated up 3% at $382.60 as Elon Musk is planning to sell export EVs out of China to Asia and Europe.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was maintained as Equal Weight but its target price was lowered to $23 from $25 at Morgan Stanley. Wells Fargo closed up 0.5% at $23.95 a share on Thursday and was indicated up 0.6% at $24.10 on Friday. The prior consensus target price is $29.62.
The Jefferies Global team did a massive survey across the globe, trying to get a sense of where people now stand on the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been a change in attitudes since the firm’s April survey, those surveyed remain concerned and cautious.
After a shakeup in the Dow Jones industrials and a prominent stock split, tech giants now top the list of the most shorted Dow stocks.
Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BigCommerce, Exxon Mobile, FedEx, Penn National, Rio Tinto, Trillium Therapeutics and Zscaler.
