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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Apple, Ballard Power, Best Buy, Deere, Dell, Facebook, Pinterest, Snap, Zoom Video and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 24, 2020 8:55 am

Last Updated: August 24, 2020 9:07 am

The S&P 500 managed to hit a new all-time high last week, and positive news on coronavirus treatments and overseas market strength had stocks surging again on Monday with both the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 up almost 1% in futures trading. Many investors feel as though they missed the recovery, as the recession forced many out of the market. Investors also have been looking for new ideas for how to be positioned in the second half of 2020 and ahead of the election.

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 call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Monday, August 24, 2020.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with an $80 target price (versus an $83.81 prior close) at Northland Capital. AMD had a $75.62 consensus target price.

Amphenol Corp. (NYSE: APH) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $134 from $120 (versus a $116.02 close) at Citigroup.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $520 from $430 at Morgan Stanley. Apple shares closed up 5.15% at $497.48 on Friday and have a $423.73 consensus target price.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BDLP) was started with an Outperform rating and a $22 target price (versus a $16.22 close) at Bernstein.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was reiterated as Strong Buy and its target price was raised to $135 from $100 (versus a $114.00 close) at Raymond James.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was reiterated as Outperform and its target was raised to $228 from $180 at RBC Capital Markets. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target price to $247 from $181, BofA Securities upgraded Deere to Buy from Neutral.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $75 from $55 (versus a $60.46 close) at Citigroup.

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its price target was cut to $91 from $95 (versus an $86.54 close) at Guggenheim.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $315 from $275 (versus a $267.01 close) at Citigroup. Facebook stock had a $281.18 consensus target price.

Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $100 target price (versus an $85.05 close) at Raymond James.

Flagstar Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: FBC) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that more and more people are refinancing their mortgages with rates so low. Shares most recently closed at $29.90 and have a consensus price target of $38.14.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at B. Riley FBR.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was reiterated as Overweight and its target was raised to $350 from $315 (versus a $322.23 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

J.Jill Inc. (NYSE: JILL) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the struggle for this women’s retailer is all too real. Shares last closed at $0.37 and have a consensus price target of $0.64.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, and Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was reiterated as Neutral in the call saying social media growth assumptions seem too lofty.

Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was reiterated as Sell at Citigroup, although the firm did raise its target to $19 from $14 in the call.

Sprout Social Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT) was started with a Buy rating and a $40 price target (versus a $34.26 close) at Needham.

Steelcase Inc. (NYSE: SCS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Benchmark.

Vertex Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX) has seen its quiet period come to an end. Morgan Stanley started it as Equal Weight and William Blair started it as Outperform. Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating, and both Goldman Sachs and BofA Securities started it as Neutral.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was reiterated as Neutral but its price target was raised to $260 from $210 (versus a $289.68 close) at Rosenblatt.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Alibaba, Concho Resources, Occidental Petroleum, Palo Alto Networks, Salesforce.com, Splunk, Uber and Workday.