Stocks were very strong on Thursday morning. Investors have been using the recent weakness and volatility to accumulate some stocks they may have previously missed. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week on the hunt for new investment and trading ideas. Some of the analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

There have been many analyst calls in the wake of recent earnings releases. Also, Credit Suisse issued a series of calls on auto-related companies, and Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on discount brokerage.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was maintained as Underperform with a dismal $20 price target at Credit Suisse. Stern Agee maintained its Buy rating and even raised the price target to $28 from $26.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was reiterated as a Buy with a $114 price target (versus $99.09 Wednesday close) at Argus. The firm noted an investor concern about sluggish production, but it expects production growth to accelerate in the coming quarters due to a series of large projects.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was started with a Neutral rating and an $18 price target (versus $17.42 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was started with an Underperform rating and was given a $33.30 price target (versus $33.95 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse. The firm thinks North America is peaking too early and that there will be low earnings growth ahead.

InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) saw its stock rise 14% on more takeover and bid interest reports on Wednesday. The biotech outfit was downgraded Thursday morning to Neutral from Buy with a $49 price target (versus $52.06 Wednesday close) at Goldman Sachs.

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was started with an Outperform rating and a $325 price target (versus $259.96 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse, with the firm saying that the electric vehicle is going to have many advantages.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was maintained as Buy with a $60 price target (versus $44.15 Wednesday close) at BofA Merrill Lynch. The firm talked up the 500 million to 800 million user potential, and that Twitter could generate an additional $500 million to $2 billion in annual ad revenues on these users.

These are the rest of this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street analysts:

Athlon Energy Inc. (NYSE: ATHL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $51 price target (versus $42.55 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) was started with a Market Perform rating at FBR Capital Markets.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was started with a Buy rating and a $34 price target (versus $27.59 Wednesday close) at Deutsche Bank.

Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) was started with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse.

E*TRADE Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) was started with a Hold rating and was given a $23 price target (versus $21.34 Wednesday close) at Deutsche Bank.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

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Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $9 price target (versus $6.34 Wednesday close) at Piper Jaffray

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) was started with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse

Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA) was started with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse.

Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) was started with an Outperform rating and $84 price target (versus $72.55 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Needham & Co. Sterne Agee maintained its Neutral rating and adjusted the price target to $35 from $34.

Netease Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) was maintained as Buy with a $96 price target (versus $84.06 Wednesday close) at BofA Merrill Lynch, calling it a value stock with stable execution.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised up to $12 from $9 (versus a $9.38 Wednesday close) at Credit Suisse.

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SeaWorld  Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $20 price target at BofA Merrill Lynch.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE: AMTD) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $38 price target (versus $32.31 Wednesday close) at Deutsche Bank.

URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included shares of FuelCell, JDSU, King, SunEdison, Google, Facebook and more.

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