Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amazon, Conoco, Deutsche Bank, First Solar, Intel, Mattel, Starbucks

Jon C. Ogg

Published: July 28, 2017 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:11 am

Stocks hit new all-time highs this week, but some soft earnings on Thursday and Friday had markets indicated slightly lower on Friday. The bull market may now be over eight years old, but the one theme that hasn’t failed is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy the major indexes and their favorite stocks after every sell-off. Investors are also searching for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy. and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, July 28, 2017.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was down 0.6% at $1,046 ahead of its quarterly report and was indicated down 3.6% at $1,008.50 after earnings were soft. The stock was started as Buy with a $1,100 price target at Instinet. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $1,250 from $1,150, and Deutsche Bank raised its target to $1,175 from $1,135. Morgan Stanley cut its Amazon target to $1,150 from $1,200, while JPMorgan raised its target to $1,175 and Barclays raised its target to $1,150. Credit Suisse’s DCF-based price target remains, but it increased its end-of-2018 price target to $1,450 from $1,350.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $58 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The firm noted that at $45 per barrel oil, management has options to either accelerate share buybacks by 1% to 2% or redeploy capital to short cycle growth. ConocoPhillips closed up 2.2% at $44.66 on Thursday and was indicated up 0.7% at $45.00 on Friday.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie. Its American depositary shares closed down 5.4% at $18.03 on Thursday and were indicated up 1.3% at $18.25 on Friday. Its 52-week trading range is $11.19 to $20.94, and its consensus analyst price target was last seen at $13.26.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was down 1.4% at $44.81 ahead of earnings but was last seen up 10% at $49.66 afterward. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price objective to $64 from $54, noting that First Solar is the best-placed solar player for a tough market even though the solar cycle has bottomed. Cowen raised its target to $57 from $52, while Robert W. Baird raised its target to $50 from $38.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was up 0.6% at $34.97, and its shares were up another 1.3% at $35.42 afterward. Jefferies maintained its Underperform rating but raised its target to $30 from $29. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating and $35 target price, noting fair guidance but also fair valuation. Intel has a 52-week range of $33.23 to $38.45 and a consensus target price of about $39.50 going into earnings.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) missed sales estimates and margins fell even more than expected, and the company’s loss had shares indicated down 5.5% at $20.13 on Friday. Jefferies maintained its hold rating but cut the target to $17 from $19. Mattel closed up 1.8% at $21.30 ahead of earnings, and its 52-week range is $19.41 to $34.24.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) closed up 2.7% at $59.50 ahead of earnings but was indicated down 7.3% at $55.15 after earnings. Starbucks was reiterated as Buy with a $65 price target at Jefferies, with the firm noting that its relative value is solid at a time that the many moving pieces will require patience. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating but cut the target price to $57 from $60, noting that the remaining segments unlikely to be sources of upside. Stifel cut its rating to Hold from Buy, and Guggenheim cut its rating to Neutral from Buy. Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating but it cut the price target to $68 from $71, and Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating and lowered its target to $56 from $57.

There are 11 great old American companies that have totally lost control of their narrative, and some of them are continuing to fall even after good or decent earnings.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included AK Steel, Boeing, Facebook, Newmont, Kinder Morgan, PayPal, State Street and more.

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