Stocks bounced on Thursday, but Friday was indicated to open lower by about 1% on the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500, with the Nasdaq indicated down a tad more after disappointment in Apple’s earnings. The markets are facing many issues, from rising coronavirus cases to civil unrest to mixed earnings and economic reports with no stimulus package ahead of next week’s election. With so many issues going on at once, many investors who missed the recovery from March’s panic selling are looking for new ideas about how to be positioned heading into 2021.

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 30, 2020.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was reiterated as Outperform but its price target was cut to $159 from $163 at SVB Leerink.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) closed up 3% at $1,556.88 ahead of earnings and was indicated up another 6.6% at $1,660.00 on Friday. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $1,800 from $1,700, KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target from $1,955to $1,970. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target from $1,700 to $1,850, and Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $1,880 from $1,800.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) closed up 1.5% at $3,211.01 ahead of earnings and was indicated down 1.4% at $3,164.40 after earnings. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its price target to $3,900 from $3,700. Truist Securities reiterated Amazon as Buy and raised its price target to $3,650 from $3,600.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed up 3.7% at $115.32 a share ahead of earnings and was indicated down over 4% on Friday morning. Raymond James reiterated Apple as Outperform and raised its target price to $140 from $120. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating and kept its $150 price target.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $23.50 from $20.00 at Compass Point.

CareDx Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNA) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $55 from $47 at H.C. Wainwright.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA) stock closed down 5.8% at $191.19 per share on Thursday but was indicated up 4% at $198.85 on Friday. Needham reiterated it as Buy and cut its target price to $262 from $265. Wedbush reiterated its Neutral rating with a $190 price target.

Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $10 from $7 at Truist, which noted that its consensus estimates are set to move higher based on strong nurse staffing demand.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) closed up 4.9% at $280.83 a share ahead of earnings, and its stock was indicated down 1.4% at $276.85 after earnings included many warnings about headwinds and uncertainty. Raymond James reiterated Facebook as Strong Buy and raised its target to $320 from $280. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price from $300 to $320.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $325 from $315 (versus a $314.90 prior close) at SVB Leerink.

iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that working from home has bought big demand for robot help. Shares most recently closed at $81.33 and have a consensus price target of $92.20.

NuVasive Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. SVB Leerink maintained its Outperform rating and cut its target to $65 from $70, and Truist maintained its Buy rating and cut its target to $75 from $78. The stock closed up 3.2% at $49.27 a share on Thursday, but it was indicated down 7.5% at $45.60 on Friday.

Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ: OCSL) will remain the surviving company after a merger. Janney reiterated its Buy rating and maintained a $6 price target. That compares with a $4.65 prior close and a $5.82 consensus price target.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $78 price target (versus a $67.31 close) at JPMorgan.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $96 price target (versus a $76.42 close) at Oppenheimer.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that after the stock failed at key technical levels, investors are questioning upcoming earnings. Shares last closed at $86.33 and have a consensus price target of $106.67.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $30 price target (versus a $20.91 close) at Jefferies.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $25 price target (versus a $17.02 close) at JPMorgan.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) closed up 1.3% at $88.30 a share ahead of earnings, and the stock was indicated down 1.6% at $86.90 on Friday. Wedbush reiterated it as Neutral with an $88 price target.

Tivity Health Inc. (NASDAQ: TVTY) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $20 price target (versus a $13.82 close) at Jefferies.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) shares closed up 8% at $52.43 on Thursday ahead of earnings but were indicated down 16% at $43.95 on Friday morning. Wedbush maintained Twitter as Neutral with a $47 price target.

Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $145 price target (versus a $106.03 close) at Stifel. The stock was up 13% at $119.85 on Friday, and the prior consensus target price was $113.07.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Boeing, eBay, Etsy, Fastly, Fiverr, Ford, General Electric, Gilead Sciences, Pinterest and Six Flags.

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