Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Alcoa, Biomarin, Coca-Cola, Ford, GM, Intel, Kinder Morgan, Micron, Nvidia, Tesla, Twitter, Zillow and More

Investing

Published: March 24, 2020 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 24, 2020 9:29 am

Equity futures had been down again on Monday, but futures were locked limit up for part of Tuesday morning on optimism that a coronavirus stimulus and rescue package was closer to being done. Many Wall Street analyst calls included substantial downgrades or target price cuts in reaction to massive share price drops that have been seen in the past month.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week to find new ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks that firms want their clients to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid. Investors should never use any individual analyst report as a sole reason to buy or sell a stock, and analyst reports should only be one small portion of evaluating companies.

These are the top analyst calls for Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was maintained as Outperform with a $57 target price (versus a $41.64 prior close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities.

AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock has tons of opportunity. Shares most recently closed at $51.90 and have a consensus price target of $68.60.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target was slashed to $7 from $21 (versus a $5.67 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was maintained as Buy but its target price was cut to $58 from $76 (versus a $40.17 close) at Citigroup. Deutsche Bank maintained its Buy rating but lowered its target price to $65 from $75.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Bright Horizon Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BFAM) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that quarantine has removed a lot of value from the daycare business, but it is worth another look. Shares last closed at $85.49, with a consensus price target of $112.00.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was maintained as Outperform with a $164 target price (versus a $71.37 close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush.

Blueprint Medicines Corp. (NASDAQ: BPMC) was reiterated as Outperform with a $122 target price (versus a $51.32 close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush.

Century Aluminum Co, (NASDAQ: CENX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was cut to $5 from $11 (versus a $3.17 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $45 target price at HSBC. Shares closed down 1.9% at $37.56 ahead of the call and have a $58.18 consensus target price.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its target price was lowered to $145 from $170 (versus $113.69 prior close) at Wedbush.

FirstCash Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its target price was cut to $78 from $95 (versus a $63.27 close) at Wedbush.

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM) was started with an Outperform rating and a $13 target price (versus an $8.52 close) at Wedbush, with the firm noting that the defensive positioning of its loan portfolio with significant exposure to multifamily (47% of loans) and residential mortgage (19%) should enable credit quality to hold up better than peer average in the upcoming recession.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $19 from $16 at B. Riley FBR.

ALSO READ: More Big Dividend Cuts Signal Just How Bad the Recession Looks for 2020

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was maintained as Neutral but its target price was cut to $5 from $9 at Citigroup. UBS downgraded Ford from Buy to Neutral.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) was maintained as Buy at Citigroup. GM closed down 3% at $17.60 ahead of the call.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NASDAQ: GT) was maintained as Neutral and its target price was lowered to $7 from $11 at Citigroup. It closed down over 7% at $5.27 ahead of the call.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Neutral from Sell but its target price was cut to $54 from $55 at Goldman Sachs. Intel previously closed up 8% at $49.58, with a $63.98 consensus target price.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $16 target price (versus an $11.03 close) at Barclays.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was maintained as Overweight but its target price was cut to $48 from $63 (versus a $38.25 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

MPLX L.P. (NYSE: MPLX) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $21 target price (versus an $11.19 close) at Barclays.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was to $43 from $60 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was maintained as Outperform with a $311 target price (versus a $212.69 close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush. Needham raised it to Buy from Hold with a $270 target price.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) was maintained as Overweight but the target price was cut to $88 from $121 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $19 target price (versus a $13.22 close) at Barclays.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was maintained as Buy and its target price was raised to $192 from $142 (versus a $167.44 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was reiterated as Sell and its target price was cut to $246 from $312 at Citigroup. Tesla closed up 1.6% at $434.29 ahead of the call.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was maintained as Neutral and the target price was cut to $30.00 from $36.50 at Wedbush after Twitter withdrew its guidance.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, but the firm cut its target price to $24 from $30 (versus a $12.97 close).

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was reiterated as Outperform and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush, but the firm did lower its target price to $85 from $110. Shares closed at $62.76 ahead of the call.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was raised to Buy from Neutral but its target price was cut to $92 from $100 at Goldman Sachs. The stock previously closed at $72.00, with a $97.95 consensus target price.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) was last seen up almost 19% at $36.00, after closing up over 13% at $30.06. Benchmark maintained its Buy rating but lowered its target price to $57 from $75.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, AES, AT&T, Boeing, Carnival, CME, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Honeywell, Lululemon Athletica, Netflix, Shopify, Starbucks, Twitter and many more.

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