Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, ADT, BP, Campbell Soup, Funko, Intel, Overstock.com, Perrigo and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 10, 2018 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 7:34 pm

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday after the consumer price index showed almost 3% inflation, although trading indications in the futures markets had been lower all morning. Earnings season has been quite strong, and over 70% of the companies have exceeded expectations. The S&P 500 is also quite close to all-time highs again. Still, the volatility in 2018 has created less rewarding trades by buying the dips that had been so reliable in prior years. Many investors also are trying to decide how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections and with international trade concerns.

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 commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

Investors and traders looking for new ideas among the earnings season winners and losers should also pay attention here: There were 10 stocks receiving three or more analyst upgrades and six receiving three or more analyst downgrades on Thursday, and some of the names were up or down well over 10% from the news and the views.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, August 10, 2018.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $21 from $13.25 at Goldman Sachs. AMD shares were down 2.45% at $19.10 on Thursday, but they were indicated up almost 1% at $19.30 on Friday. The 52-week trading range is $9.04 to $20.18.

ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT) was started as Outperform and assigned a $12.50 price target (versus an $8.47 prior close) at Credit Suisse. After a 10.6% drop on Thursday, the shares were up almost 3% at $8.70 on Friday. The 52-week range is $6.93 to $13.02, and the previous consensus target price was $14.00.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $57 price target (versus a $49.25 close) at Credit Suisse.

Amtech Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ASYS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Benchmark.

Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. (NASDAQ: BECN) was already among the heavily downgraded names this week, but JPMorgan has maintained its Neutral rating while cutting its target to $49 from $53. The stock was up 4.6% at $38.24 on Thursday but indicated up 0.7% at $37.95 on Friday.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was down 5% at $1942.39 on Thursday after the travel websites giant lowered revenue guidance. Shares were indicated down another 2% at $1,900 on Friday. Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $2,060. Citigroup also lowered the stock, to Neutral from Buy with a $2,150 price target.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was added to the prized Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs, which noted that the oil giant is close to a sweet spot on free cash flow and with higher returns ahead, with one of the strongest pipelines of new oil and gas projects in the industry.

BrightHouse Financial Inc. (NYSE: BHF) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $42 price target (versus a $42.64 close) at Barclays.

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Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, with the firm noting that it sees a sale as not the most likely scenario, and if a sale does take place, the firm feels that the premium might not be great. Campbell Soup shares were up 0.7% at$42.28 after a larger activist stake on Thursday, but they were down 2.3% at $41.32 on Friday.

Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $70 price target (versus an $84.05 close) at Stifel.

Dunn & Bradstreet Corp. (NYSE: DNB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $145 price target (versus a $142.21 close) at Barclays.

EverQuote Inc. (NASDAQ: EVER) was down 4.5% at $14.85 on Thursday after the recent IPO had earnings earlier in the week. Needham started it with a Buy rating and assigned a $20 price target.

Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc. (NYSE: FBHS) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price objective was cut to $61 from $64 at Merrill Lynch.

Funko Inc. (NASDAQ: FNKO) was up 4.8% at $20.12 on Thursday but indicated down 3% at $19.50 on Friday after in-line earnings. JPMorgan maintained its Overweight rating but raised its target to $24 from $14.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was cut to $44 from $49 (versus a $50.14 close) at Goldman Sachs. Intel closed up 0.36% at $50.14 on Thursday but was indicated down almost 3% at $48.65 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $34.38 to $57.60 and with a consensus target price of $56.03.

Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM) was started as Underperform and assigned a $25 target (versus a $35.46 close) at Credit Suisse.

Ooma Inc. (NASDAQ: OOMA) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $13 price target (versus a $16.10 close) at Credit Suisse.

Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) was up 4.5% to $38.60 ahead of earnings on Thursday, but shares rose 20% to $46.50 on news that a Hong Kong private equity firm was investing what looks to be more than $300 million in the company, its tZERO blockchain unit and in its tokens. D.A. Davidson has a Buy rating and raised its target price to $112 from $103, and the stock was down over 50% from its 52-week high of $89.80 ahead of earnings.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO) was started as Market Perform with a $25 price target (versus a $22.60 close) at Leerink.

Perrigo Co. PLC (NYSE: PRGO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $78 target price (versus a $70.03 close) at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down 10.5% at $70.03 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $69.23 to $95.93 and with a prior consensus target price of $88.13.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Applied Materials, elf Beauty, Extreme Networks, Mylan, NXP Semiconductor, Roku, Seagate, Yelp, Zynga and many more.