Stocks sold off on Thursday due to tensions with China, but the market had been frothy as the S&P 500 was back over 3,000 and the Dow Jones industrials were back over 25,000. Friday’s indications had futures opening down close to 0.5% ahead of a press conference at the White House regarding China relations. On the last trading day of May, investors have to consider an upcoming election, ongoing risks of illness versus reopening, and a weak consumer and weak business spending environment, on top of international issues.

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. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Now that stocks have recovered so much, it seems that the analyst calls with ever lower price targets have ended. In many cases, analysts are raising their outlooks and targets, even if they have cautious macro views or earnings caution. Some calls are praising growth over value, and others are focused on base economy stocks that have already begun recovering.

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 we have seen on Friday, May 29, 2020.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $159 from $150 at SVB Leerink. The stock closed up almost 8% at $114.42 on Thursday, and its consensus price target was $139.45.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) was started as Neutral at Robert W. Baird.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $16 from $12 (versus an $11.40 prior close, after a 5.9% drop) at Jefferies.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $61 from $51 (versus a $54.79 close) at Raymond James.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was up 7.2% at $48.85 after earnings. Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Equal Weight but raised its price target to $50 from $35, and Nomura/Instinet reiterated its Neutral rating and raised its target to $55 from $35.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $110 from $90 (versus a $97.64 close, after an 11.5% gain) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Also, Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Equal Weight and raised its target to $105.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $210 from $200 (versus a $184.11 close, after a 1.6% drop) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $218 from $200.

DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $34 from $28 at Needham. Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Equal Weight and raised its price target to $33 from $25. B. Riley FBR reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target from $34 to $38.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. Shares closed down 0.5% at $46.83 on Thursday and have a $48.13 consensus price target.

MEI Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: MEIP) was started with a Buy rating and a $16 price target (versus a $3.30 close) SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. As this is an exponential upside call, the firm sees it having a best-in-class PI3Kδ inhibitor, which has demonstrated strong risk-benefit profile in Phase 1 lymphoma trials.

PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $30 price target at Mizuho.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that as economies reopen, investors should let retail prove itself before getting in. Shares last closed at $79.98 and have a consensus price target of $88.81.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was started with an Outperform rating and a $90 price target (versus an $84.89 close) at Robert W. Baird. The consensus price target was $88.36 ahead of the call.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was started as Outperform with a $910 target price at Daiwa. The stock closed down 1.7% at $805.81 on Thursday, and the consensus price target is $532.88.

United Natural Foods Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that distribution to grocery stores is a hot business in a lockdown environment. Shares most recently closed at $18.15, with a consensus price target of $10.50.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $170 from $160 (versus a $142.44 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It had a $153.55 prior consensus price target.

Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was started with an Outperform rating and a $115 price target (versus a $106.50 close) at Robert W. Baird.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was started with a Neutral rating and a $27 price target (versus a $27.22 close) at D.A. Davidson.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $90 from $45 at CFRA. Shares were indicated up 8.8% at $79.50 after crushing earnings estimates due to online sales while its stores were closed.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was up 1.7% at $75.80 ahead of earnings and was last seen up over 19% at $90.60 in the post-earnings reaction. Wedbush Securities reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $100 from $80. Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target from $89 to $110.

Eight stocks have been identified that could double (or more) in the next year, and none of them are tied to COVID-19.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, Apple, Autodesk, Boston Beer, DocuSign, HP, Masco, Qualcomm, Tyson Foods, Vornado Realty Trust, Walt Disney and more.

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