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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Brocade, Clean Harbors, Eldorado Gold, Exxon Mobil, First Solar, Home Depot, Vipshop and More

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Stocks were indicated lower on Wednesday, but not anywhere close to the large drop seen on Tuesday. Despite ups and downs, investors have proven over and over that they are looking for opportunities and that they are more than willing to buy the big market dips.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other reports feature stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen this Wednesday morning:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform with a $150 price target (versus a $93.49 prior close) at Credit Suisse. Two mix shifts will drive upside — new memory options will be in the iPhone 7, and they retain the average sale prices and gross margin estimates for 2016 and 2017. Apple’s consensus analyst price target has drifted lower to $126.25, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $89.47 to $132.97. Here are 11 crucial considerations about Warren Buffett taking a stake.

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $10 price objective (versus an $8.01 close) at Merrill Lynch. Brocade has a consensus price target of $9.79 and a 52-week range of $7.40 to $12.88.


Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) was started as Overweight and was assigned a $58 price target (versus a $48.35 close) at Barclays. The consensus price target is $51.25. The 52-week range is $37.09 to $57.86.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotia Capital. This is after Credit Suisse raised its target and after the company sold Chinese assets. The stock closed at $5.07 and it has a consensus analyst price target of $5.15 and a 52-week range of $1.87 to $5.16.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was raised to Buy and the price target was set at $104 at Argus. Shares closed at $89.53, and the upgrade reflects its diverse asset base, secure dividend, cost controls and favorable valuation versus peers. The consensus price target is $84.93, while the 52-week range is $66.55 to $90.00.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the firm slashed the price target to $66 from $90 (versus a $48.51 close) in the call. Argus says that First Solar remains the best positioned solar company based on profits, cost-effective technology and strong balance sheet and cash flow. The consensus price target is $74.34, and the 52-week range is $40.25 to $74.29.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $147 from $145 (versus a $132.00 close) at Credit Suisse. It has a consensus price target of $147.09 and a 52-week range of $92.17 to $137.82.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $11 from $15 (versus a $12.31 close, but indicated down 14% at $10.59 after earnings) at JPMorgan. The consensus analyst target is $17.18, and the 52-week range is $10.37 to $26.95.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgraded were seen in the following:
Aegon N.V. (NYSE: AEG) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD) was started as Buy and was assigned a $10 price objective (versus a $6.61 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $99 price target (versus a $99.99 close) at Mizuho.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $93 from $74 (versus a $71.05 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $27 price target (versus a $27.45 close) at Citigroup. Argus reiterated its Buy rating and $40 price target on the stock.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $88 from $78 at Oppenheimer. Credit Suisse also maintained its Outperform rating.

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $78 price target (versus a $68.16 close) at Janney.

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $16 from $14 (versus a $14.02 close) at Nomura.


ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Capital One.

Redwood Trust Inc. (NYSE: RWT) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $16 from $14 (versus a $13.33 close) at Nomura.

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: SNI) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $62 price target (versus a $64.49 close) at Citigroup.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (NYSE: SHO) was started as Hold at BB&T Capital Markets.

SYNNEX Corp. (NYSE: SNX) was raised to Outperform from Underperform with an $87 price target (versus an $80.03 close) at Raymond James.

U.S. Ecology Inc. (NASDAQ: ECOL) was started as Equal Weight with a $48 price target (versus a $42.53 close) at Barclays.

Xtera Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: XCOM) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $2.50 from $6.00 (versus a $1.85 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AIG, AT&T, Freeport-McMoRan, Halliburton, Lending Club, Range Resources, Salesforce.com, SecureWorks and over a dozen more.

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