Stocks have hit all-time highs despite rising tensions with Iran, but Friday’s gains were small enough after an in-line payrolls and unemployment report that there seemed to be no foregone conclusion about the day’s direction. For the investors who have not made portfolio shifts and changes during a very strong market in 2019, there is still time to get positioned for 2020. There are many market risks, concerns and headlines that may come with worry, but trade tensions are abating and global growth may see a rekindled strength this year, while interest rates are expected to remain stable. This is also an election year in which much is at stake, and strategists are by and large calling for single-digit percentage gains in 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

Our 2020 Bull/Bear Outlook sees the Dow rising by about 7.4% to 30,650 this year, but there are outliers that could help the Dow rise by over 10% after a very strong 2019. The upside scenario puts Dow 32,000 easily within reach if only a few things go right this year.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Friday, January 10, 2020.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $390 from $370 (versus a $340.45 prior close) at Jefferies.

Aduro BioTech Inc. (NASDAQ: ADRO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was started with an Outperform rating and a $1,600 target price at Bernstein. Shares closed at $1,419.79 and have a consensus target price of $1,478.34.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was started with a Market Perform rating and a $2,050 target price at Bernstein. Shares closed at $1,901.05 and have a consensus target price of $2,170.22.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and the price objective increased to $71 from $64 at Merrill Lynch.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the target price lowered to $1.00 from $3.00 (versus a $1.86 close) at Piper Jaffray. Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Neutral from Buy. The stock is down from a 52-week high of $10.32.

Construction Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: ROAD) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this stock spent three months in Home Run Investor, so is it worth getting back in it again? Shares last closed at $16.82, with a consensus price target of $20.00.

Dolby Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: DLB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley FBR.

Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $85 target price at Jefferies.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was started with an Outperform rating and a $250 target price at Bernstein. Shares closed at $218.30 and have a consensus target price of $240.25.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was started with a Buy rating and a $205 target price at Mizuho.

KAR Auction Services Inc. (NYSE: KAR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price increased to $350 from $275 at Merrill Lynch.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was started with a Market Perform rating and a $48 target price at Bernstein.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $186 from $160 (versus a $162.09 close) at Jefferies. This followed two more key price hikes this week.

New Relic Inc. (NYSE: NEWR) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $63 target price at Barclays.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was started with a Neutral rating and a $67 target price (versus a $65.28 close) at UBS.

Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PTLA) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Scholar Rock Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SRRK) received $25 million from Gilead as a milestone payment after it demonstrated efficacy in preclinical in vivo proof-of-concept studies in their collaboration in the development of transforming growth factor beta inhibitors for fibrotic diseases. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating with a $23 target price (versus a $12.88 close, after a 2.4% gain). The market cap is just $393 million.

Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP) was started with a Neutral rating and a $410 price target at Mizuho.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was started with an Outperform rating and a $20 target price at Bernstein. Shares closed at $17.36 and have a consensus target price of $18.30.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $185 from $166 (versus a $154.52 close) at Jefferies.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was started with a Neutral rating and a $90 target price (versus an $85.37 close) at UBS.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $553 from $423 at Piper Jaffray. Other analysts have made mixed calls this week as well. Shares closed at $481.34 and have a consensus target price of $323.86.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform and its target price was lowered to $125 from $144 (versus a $137.62 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was started with an Underperform rating and a $27 target price at Bernstein.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was started with an Outperform rating and a $40 target price at Bernstein. Shares closed at $33.97 and have a consensus target price of $43.65.

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UCTT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock looks to have been “basing” in the $22 to $23 range and could move much higher soon. Shares most recently closed at $22.31 and have a consensus price target of $22.10.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Screening the Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List of stocks looking for the stocks with the highest upside to the firm’s price targets revealed five stocks that could be home runs for investors in 2020.

Robert W. Baird has five top growth stock picks expected to outperform in 2020.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, American Express, Apache, Coca-Cola, Ford, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Lyft, Snap, Starbucks, Tesla and many more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.