Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, Cemex, Comerica, Facebook, GM, Incyte, Proofpoint, Regeneron and More

Investing

Published: April 9, 2018 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 1:38 am

Stocks were hammered on Friday for the end of a volatile week, but stock indices were indicated higher on Monday, with a 150-point rise in the Dow Jones industrial average and 13-point rise in the S&P 500. The bull market is now over nine years old, and the trend of buying pullbacks has become much more vulnerable to sellers and volatility trades. The climate has made it more difficult for investors to decide how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2018 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. 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 reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Monday, April 9, 2018.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) was maintained as Buy at Citigroup, but the firm lowered its price target to $57 from $65. The stock closed up 0.9% at $48.05 despite the sell-off, and its shares were indicated up just over 3% at $49.50 on Monday.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was reiterated as Outperform with a $25 price target (versus a $16.45 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm saw a strong first quarter and is calling for a heavy slate of summer movies.

Arcus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RCUS) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $21 target price (versus a $14.34 close) at Leerink. Shares traded up 2.3% at $14.67 on Monday’s early indications.

CEMEX SAB de CV (NYSE: CX) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $8.50 from $8.00 (versus $6.87 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was reiterated as Outperform with a $47 price target (versus a $39.13 close) at Wedbush. The firm saw a better-than-expected first quarter and is calling for a heavy slate of summer movies.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) was reiterated as Buy with a $90 price objective (versus a $55.52 close) at Merrill Lynch, with the firm noting that Rubraca received a full label as a second line of defense maintenance setting for ovarian cancer.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $111 from $103 (versus a $94.92 close) at Wedbush. The firm sees coming drivers to earnings from margin expansion, potential resumption of loan growth and above-average capital returns.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm lowered its price target to $215 from $230. Facebook has a 52-week range of $138.81 to $195.32, and the consensus target price was last seen at $218.22.

ALSO READ: Credit Suisse Has 8 Top Stock Picks With at Least 50% Implied Upside

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General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target was raised to $48 from $45 (versus a $37.68 close) at Morgan Stanley. GM shares were up 2.2% at $38.50 in early Monday indications, in a 52-week range of $31.92 to $46.76 and with a prior consensus target price of $47.83.

Imax Corp. (NASDAQ: IMAX) was reiterated as Outperform with a $32 price target (versus a $22.10 close) at Wedbush. The firm saw a better-than-expected first quarter and sees a heavy slate of summer movies.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) was down 23% at $64.02 on Friday after its cancer drug failed in a trial with Merck’s Keytruda. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $78 from $145, and Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $65 from $110.

Menlo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MNLO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was slashed to $20 from $41 (versus a $35.22 close) at Jefferies. Unfortunately, the shares were last seen down almost 55% at $16.00 after news that its Phase 2 study on atopic dermatitis did not meet its primary or key secondary efficacy endpoints.

NewLink Genetics Corp. (NASDAQ: NLNK) was down almost 43% at $4.20 on Friday after a Merck/Incyte cancer drug failed to meet study endpoints. Baird downgraded NewLink to Neutral from Outperform and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded it to Hold from Buy.

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Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) was raised to Buy from Hold and the target price was raised to $27 from $24 (versus a $22.98 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The stock was indicated up 1% at $23.20 on Monday.

Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was reiterated as Outperform with a $130 price target (versus a $117.19 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that Proofpoint continues to increase its span of products and value and that it expects continued momentum in the coming quarters and years.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. Shares closed down 2.7% at $319.61 on Friday and were indicated down 0.2% at $319.00 on Monday.

Spectra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: SEP) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Credit Suisse has issued preliminary views on first-quarter earnings, which are starting to be released this week. The firm estimates that earnings will be the first under tax reform and will show earnings up about 11.5%, excluding tax benefits. With a typical pace of beats, that would come in closer to 15.5% growth, and Credit Suisse sees winners in energy, technology, materials and financials showing the biggest earnings gains.

There are eight Credit Suisse picks screened out from its 86 Top Picks and with implied upside of 50% or more.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Archer Daniels Midland, Boeing, Hess, LogMeIn, NetApp, Sunrun, United Continental, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, XPO Logistics and many more.

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