Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Amazon, BofA, Cypress Semi, Flextronics, JC Penney, Lululemon, Microsoft and More

courtesy of Jon Ogg

Stocks were indicated to have a strong open on Friday after Japan cut its interest rates into negative territory to follow Europe on easing trends and quantitative easing. This was also after a strong gain in U.S. markets on Thursday. Some investors fear that rallies are just new selling opportunities, but the trend from 2011 to 2015 was always to buy the dips and pullbacks.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports are on stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Friday’s top analyst calls.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $86 from $91 at Jefferies. Alibaba closed down 3.7% on Thursday after its earnings, and shares were last seen up 0.7% at $67.40, against a 52-week trading range of $57.20 to $95.06.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was up 8.9% at $635.35 going into earnings, but the disappointing revenues had shares last indicated down 10% at $571.00 or so. Mizuho Securities maintained as Buy rating but cut its target to $685 from $720. Credit Suisse maintained an Outperform rating and $800 target, and Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating but cut the target to $700 from $745. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Hold rating and $600 target.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was raised to Outperform from Sell with a $16 price target (versus a $13.53 prior close) at CLSA. Bank of America’s consensus analyst target is now $18.40 and its 52-week range is $12.94 to $18.48.


Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) was down 6.2% to $7.55 after earnings on Thursday. It was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $8 at Sterne Agee. Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on Cypress but lowered its target to $12 from $14. The stock has a consensus target of $11.65 and a 52-week range of $7.18 to $16.25.

Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) was down 0.6% at $9.53 before earnings and was indicated up over 10% at $10.55 afterward. Stifel raised it to Buy from Hold with a $13 price target. Flextronics has a consensus analyst target of $13.17 and a 52-week range of $8.85 to $12.86.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $7.00 price target (versus a $6.82 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm sees J.C. Penney on a shift in messaging to prioritize paying down debt, which could allow it to maintain its current share price despite multiple decay.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was reiterated as Outperform but the price target was raised to $66 from $60 (versus a $59.60 close) at Credit Suisse. The consensus analyst target is $60.42, and the 52-week range is $43.14 to $70.00.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was up 1.6% at $52.06 before earnings, and shares were last seen up 4.8% at $54.57 afterward. Jefferies maintained its Underperform rating but raised its target to $40 from $39. While that is not much of a move up, $39 was also the lowest analyst price target. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform but raised its target to $62.50 from $60.00. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and $56 target.

Follow @JonOgg on Twitter to receive the daily analyst calls in your Twitter feed each morning.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Friday were in shares of the following:
Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW) was maintained as Buy but the price target was slashed to $9 from $19 at Jefferies.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $53 from $61 at Jefferies.

Costamare Inc. (NYSE: CMRE) was started as Neutral with a $9 target (versus an $8.13 close) at Credit Suisse.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (NYSE: CFR) was maintained as Hold but the price target was cut to $50 from $65 at Jefferies.

Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

DST Systems Inc.. (NYSE: DST) was started as Outperform at R.W. Baird.

ENSCO International PLC (NYSE: ESV) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

First Cash Financial Services Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the fair value estimate was raised to $45 from $44 at Janney Capital Markets.


Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was maintained as Buy but to the price target was cut to $37 from $42 at Jefferies.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $100 price target (versus a $99.32 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $31 price target at Bernstein.

Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ: MSCC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) was started as Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Nutrisystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI) was started as Buy with a $25 price target (versus an $18.95 close) at Wunderlich. Does Dan Marino appreciate this upgrade?

Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

PC Connection Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

Sotherly Hotels Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a fair value estimate of $7.00 (versus a $5.04 close) at Janney Capital Markets.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.(NYSE: SPR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $37 from $52 (versus a $42.25 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was maintained as Hold but the price target was cut to $9 from $14 at Jefferies.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $77 from $82 at Jefferies.

If you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Boeing, eBay, Facebook, Incyte, Kinder Morgan, PayPal, Qualcomm, U.S. Steel and over a dozen more companies.

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