Stocks managed to rise again on Thursday, and the major equity indexes were indicated up on Friday morning as well. Many investors missed out on the recovery from late in March, but many of the key leadership stocks are now down from their highs at more attractive entry points.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls 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 seen on Friday, October 9, 2020.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was reiterated as Outperform with a $100 price target (versus an $86.51 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The report noted that revenues and margins will benefit despite that the newly introduced Zen 3 architecture and desktop CPUs were not as substantial improvements as was seen with Zen 2.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $4,000 from $3,700 at Mizuho, which noted that third-quarter revenue was tracking above expectations.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) stock traded down about 6.8% to $240.09 on Thursday after disappointing heart drug study news. Truist Securities downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $251 price target.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $686 from $652 (versus a $604.44 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $112 from $113 (versus a $75.22 close) at Truist.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $52 from $51 (versus a $35.53 close) at Truist.

Consumer Portfolio Services Inc. (NASDAQ: CPSS) was maintained as Neutral but its price target was raised to $5 from $2 (versus a $4.69 close) at Janney.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP) was started as Buy with a $345 price target (versus a $291.38 close) at Deutsche Bank. The consensus target price was $273.58.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was maintained as Hold but its price target was cut to $41 from $44 (versus a $35.26 close) at Truist.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was resumed with a Buy rating and a $10 price target at Goldman Sachs, which noted that CEO Larry Culp is moving to make GE leaner and structurally more productive and focused. GE closed up over 5% at $6.65 a share on Thursday, with a $7.90 consensus price target. Shares were indicated up about 6% at $7.05 on Friday morning.

Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) managed to close up about 6% at $131.49 after announcing a breakup of the company. IBM was maintained as Equal Weight but its price target was raised to $140 from $128 at Morgan Stanley.

Janus Henderson Group PLC (NYSE: JHG) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse. The stock closed up another 7.5% at $26.93 on Thursday.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that home improvement supplies have become a big growth industry during the pandemic. Shares most recently closed at $170.87 and have a consensus price target of $183.42.

Madison Square Garden Corp. (NYSE: MSGS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that live sporting events continue to face serious headwinds into the next season. Shares last closed at $150.24 and have a consensus price target of $195.00.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $50 from $40 (versus a $42.75 close) at Benchmark.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) closed up 0.9% at $134.83 on Thursday, but the shares then rallied 6% to $142.95 after it raised guidance and said that the outlook improved in all its end markets. Barclays reiterated it as Overweight and raised its target to $150 from $130. Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $170 from $150, and Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $150 from $130.

Qiwi PLC (NASDAQ: QIWI) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was started as Buy and a $350 price target (versus a $281.33 close) at Mizuho. It had a $342.38 consensus price target.

Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $28.50 consensus target price (versus a $22.73 close) at JPMorgan.

Ryder Systems Inc. (NYSE: R) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was started with a Buy rating and an $8 price target (versus a $6.39 close) at Berenberg. It had a $7.80 consensus price target.

Varonis Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNS) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $150 from $130 (versus a $122.86 close) at Wedbush.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was started as Buy and a $550 price target (versus a $478.55 close) at Mizuho. It had a $415.76 consensus price target.

Of the S&P 500 stocks that reported from the middle of September on, the managements’ tones were more positive than negative. Credit Suisse issued a preview for earnings season showing that earnings growth is likely to continue improving in the third quarter. That said, revenue is expected to be down 4% and earnings down 22% as a whole. The key sectors expected to show growth:

TECH+ sector growth in software and semiconductors; Pharma/Biotech up; healthcare equipment and services down; telecom down; food staples and retail down. The worst trends are expected to see big earnings from a year ago show major losses in airlines, gaming, lodging and leisure, cable, satellite, broadband and energy. In financials: Life insurance is expected to be the only group with positive growth; weak earnings seen in banks, credit cards, investment banking.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Arcutis Biotherapeutics, DraftKings, First Solar, InflaRx, Livent, Medtronic, NextEra Energy Partners, Roku, Snowflake and Tesla.

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