The stock market was looking for direction on Friday morning after the Labor Department’s payrolls and unemployment data were better than expected. This week marked the peak of earnings season. Investors have some decisions to make about how they want to be positioned ahead of an upcoming election and what is still a very deep recession.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Remember that 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, August 7, 2020.

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) was maintained as Buy but its target price was cut to $172 from $192 (versus a $169.00 prior close, after a 5.4% drop) at Needham. Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating but lowered its target to $185 from $195. Shares traded down 21% at $133.25 on Friday morning’s post-earnings reaction, and the previous consensus target price was $168.58.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was more or less flat after earnings, but the stock was still trading close to $10 higher than its consensus target price. Janney reiterated its Buy rating with a $153 price target.

Avnet Inc. (NASDAQ: AVT) was reiterated as Strong Buy but its target price was lowered to $35 from $44 (versus a $28.92 close) at Raymond James.

AVROBIO Inc. (NASDAQ: AVRO) was reiterated as Outperform with a $36 price target (versus a $16.76 reference price) at Wedbush Securities, with the firm’s 100%-plus price target noting that the company continues to report positive trends from already-treated patients in its lentiviral gene therapy study for Fabry disease ahead of the company attending the annual virtual Wedbush PacGrow Healthcare Conference on August 12.

Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $285 from $265 (versus a $259.61 close) at Raymond James.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $2,000 from $1,750 (versus a $1,751.79 close) at Needham. Shares were last seen trading up almost 4% to $1,820.00 after the earnings report.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $22 from $17.50 (versus a $19.65 close) at Raymond James.

CarGurus Inc. (NASDAQ: CARG) was up 3.6% at $31.80 ahead of earnings on Thursday, but Friday’s post-earnings reaction had it down 10% at $28.60. BTIG downgraded it to Neutral from Buy.

Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: CORE) rose 10% to $30.25 on Thursday after earnings. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $34 from $31.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $50 from $47 (versus a $41.35 close) at Needham.

CryoPort Inc. (NASDAQ: CYRX) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $37 from $23 (versus a $34.98 close) at Needham.

Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $106 from $105 (versus a $90.01 close, after a 4.5% drop ahead of earnings) at Needham. The post-earnings reaction had shares down almost 8% at $82.95 on Friday.

Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: DRNA) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $46 from $43 at SVB Leerink. H.C. Wainwright reiterated it as a Buy and raised its target price to $35 from $32.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that mortgage rates and more people moving to the suburbs are helping homebuilders. Shares most recently closed at $67.62 and have a consensus price target of $75.19.

Dynavax Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: DVAX) was maintained as Buy but its target price was lowered to $12 from $14 (versus an $8.82 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was down over 8% at $33.75 after earnings, but Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $65 from $46.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was reiterated as Overweight and was named as a Best Idea stock at Stephens.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was down almost 2% at $64.46 ahead of earnings on Thursday, and its shares were last seen up 4.9% at $67.60 on Friday morning. Raymond James reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target to $72 from $62. The consensus target price was $56.45.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was last seen trading down 13% at $347.00 after earnings and after having closed at $399.33. SVB Leerink maintained its Outperform rating and cut its target price to $360 from $370. Piper Sandler downgraded it to Neutral from Overweight. It had a $343.00 consensus target price.

Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $33 from $31 at SVB Leerink.

ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SERV) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Sutro Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO) was reiterated as Outperform with a $20 price target (versus an $8.50 reference price) at Wedbush. The post-earnings report noted that the company has provided meaningful clinical updates at AACR that included dose escalation data on its lead anti-FolRa antibody-drug conjugate in ovarian cancer showing an encouraging clinical benefit rate.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $580 from $475 (versus a $480.75 close) at Needham. The shares closed down 3% on Thursday ahead of earnings and were trading up over 3% at $497.00 on Friday morning. The consensus target price was $367.35.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: UBER) was up 4.5% at $34.71 ahead of earnings and was last seen down 2.5% at $33.85 in the post-earnings reaction. Wedbush maintained Uber as Outperform but lowered its target price to $41 from $47.

Universal Display Corp. (NASDAQ: OLED) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $225 price target (versus a $186.56 close) at Needham. The stock was last seen trading down 9.7% at $168.50 after missed earnings expectations.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: VG) was down 1.7% at $12.53 on Thursday, and Friday’s post-earnings reaction had its shares down another 1.4% at $12.35 after the report. Needham reiterated it as Buy and raised its target price to $15 from $13. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $14 from $12.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that hard times for hard drives are resulting in negative earnings estimate revisions. Shares last closed at $37.30 and have a consensus price target of $52.00.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $56 from $38 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Shares closed down 1.6% at $50.80 on Thursday, and Friday’s post-earnings reaction was down just 0.2% at $50.75. It had a $50.36 consensus target price.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $110 from $80 at Needham. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating with an $80 price target.

Aerospace and defense stocks have underperformed lately, but given the cheap valuations, the safety of the sector and the potential for solid upside, the mega-cap leaders may provide some of the best total return potential for the rest of 2020 and beyond.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Costco, Enphase Energy, Etsy, Moderna, Novavax, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Roku, Square, Teva Pharmaceutical, Wayfair and Zynga.

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