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Monday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Baker Hughes, Chewy, Chubb, eBay, Etsy, Gannett, GoDaddy, PayPal, Spotify, Southwest Air, Starbucks, Tesla, Zoom and More

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Stocks closed lower ahead of the weekend, but the Dow Jones industrial average futures were up about 700 points and S&P 500 futures were up about 85 points, for gains of more than 3% on Monday morning. This is despite oil being lower after the OPEC+ meeting was delayed. Now that the raging bull market turned into a roaring bear market over the course of a month, many investors are looking for new ideas and still trying to figure out how to be best positioned for the rest of 2020. Most of the bad recession data in the formal economic reports has not even been seen yet, other than live employment data.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations take place regardless of the volatile daily market gyrations. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

In recent weeks, many analysts have handily lowered their target prices to deal with a new recessionary environment, but there are still many traditional upgrades and reiterations, as if the economy wasn’t really been turned upside-down. Remember, no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv. These are the top analyst calls tracked for Monday, April 6, 2020.

Baker Hughes Co. (NYSE: BKR) was raised to Outperform from Underperform and its price target was lowered to $15 from $20 (versus a $10.40 prior close) at Bernstein.

Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE: FUN) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that investors should avoid further downside for this roller-coaster stock. Shares last closed at $16.28, with a consensus price target of $48.88.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that stay at home orders are bringing buyers to this pet supplier. Shares most recently closed at $33.37 and have a consensus price target of $39.27.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral but its price target was lowered to $131 from $145 (versus a $102.82 close) at Piper Sandler.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim, with the firm saying it has an attractive valuation, with a strong balance sheet and cash flow, while also having no real inventory risks.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was reiterated as Outperform with a $55 target price (versus a $38.15 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $0.50 price target (versus a $0.82 close) at Citigroup.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its price target was cut to $73 from $80 (versus a $52.07 close) at Wedbush.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James, with the firm noting that its end markets are likely to hold up in the current environment and that a potential move to more outsourcing could lead to cash flow and capital intensity improvements. Credit Suisse reiterated Intel as Outperform with a $75 price target.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $110 price target at BNP Paribas. Shares closed at $98.90 ahead of the call and have a $130.75 consensus price target.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $10 from $15 (versus a $7.48 close) at JPMorgan.


LGI Homes (NASDAQ: LGIH) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its price target was slashed to $55 from $83 (versus a $34.39 close) at Wedbush.

MGP Ingredients Inc. (NASDAQ: MGPI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $40 from $30 at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, due to surging demand for industrial alcohol and increased demand for U.S. whiskey.

PayPal Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was maintained as Outperform but its price target was cut to $120 from $140 (versus a $92.39 prior close) at Wedbush.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was raised to Neutral from Underweight but its price target was lowered to $36 from $49 at JPMorgan. Shares closed down 3% at $30.54 on Friday, and its consensus price target was $47.25.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight and the price target was slashed to $11 from $41 (versus a $10.51 close) at JPMorgan.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. Credit Suisse reiterated it as Neutral. Shares closed up 21 cents at $122.12 ahead of the call, with a $151.70 consensus price target.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and its price target was slashed to $55 from $94 at JPMorgan. Starbucks closed down 3% at $63.05 ahead of this call, with an $80.68 consensus price target.

Steven Madden Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was raised to Buy from Hold but the price target was cut to $650 from $800 at Jefferies. Tesla previously closed up 5.6% at $480.01 ahead of the call. Robert W. Baird has a Neutral rating and a $525 price target but noted that its shares are not reflecting a longer impact from a global recession hurting its premium sales.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) was raised to Neutral from Sell but its price target was cut to $44 from $49 (versus a $40.72 close) at UBS. It previously had a $49.67 consensus target price.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was downgraded to Underperform in a tactical downgrade at Credit Suisse, claiming it to be priced for perfection, but the firm did raise its target price to $105 to $95. Shares closed up 5.1% at $128.20 on Friday, with a $113.53 consensus price target.

Merrill Lynch has four top stock picks that have dividend yields up to nearly 6%.

The winners from the S&P 500 in the first quarter may be best positioned for the second quarter as well.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included CBOE, Citrix Systems, Etsy, Intercontinental Exchange, Lululemon Athletica, Microsoft, Peloton Interactive, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Twitter, United Rentals and many more.

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