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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BigCommerce, Chewy, Cisco, Costco, Darden, Delta, Disney, Dow, Lyft, Palantir, Southwest Air, Unity Software and More

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Stocks sold off handily on Thursday due to rising COVID-19 cases and on fears of more shutdowns and restrictions in cities. Despite these fears coming to bend the curve of new cases, stocks were showing sharp gains on Friday on the heels of stronger earnings reactions from Cisco and Disney. As the market is learning to deal with a contested election, with run-offs and legal challenges, investors are trying to look forward and plan for 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, November 13, 2020.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was started as Neutral with a $13 price target (versus an $11.74 prior close) at BNP Paribas. The stock had a $10.62 consensus target price and a 52-week trading range of $8.25 to $30.78.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $89 from $81 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Morgan Stanley reiterated it as Equal Weight but raised its price target to $77 from $72.

BigCommerce Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BIGC) priced its 5 million share secondary offering at $68 per share, after closing at $73.32 on Thursday, sending shares down 6.7% to $68.35 on Friday morning. Citigroup started it with a Sell rating and a $65 price target. Its prior consensus target price was $90.00.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX) was named as the Zacks Bull of the day. The firm said that it was poised to soar from the mobile economic shift and also because the 5G revolution is giving a boost to business.

Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its price target was raised to $45 from $31 (versus a $33.76 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was started as Overweight with a $90 price target at Piper Sandler. The stock closed down 0.9% at $63.38. It had a $71.45 consensus target price ahead of the call.

Chuy’s Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUY) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $29 from $26 (versus a $22.16 close) at Wedbush.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was down 1.7% at $38.67 ahead of Thursday’s earnings report, but its shares were last seen trading up over 7% at $41.75 after exceeding expectations and talking up the spending environment. Cisco had a $46.93 consensus target price ahead of the report. BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and maintained its $50 price objective. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $405 from $365 at Raymond James. The stock closed at $375.71 and had a $372.68 consensus analyst target ahead of the call.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was reiterated as Neutral and its price target was raised to $115 from $99 (versus a $106.31 close) at Wedbush.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) was started as Outperform with a $54 price target (versus a $34.38 close) at BNP Paribas. It had a $39.35 consensus target price, and its 52-week trading range is $17.51 to $62.48.

Denny’s Corp. (NASDAQ: DENN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $13.50 from $14.00 (versus a $10.26 close) at Wedbush.

Dine Brands Global Inc. (NYSE: DIN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was reiterated as $73 (versus a $57.63 close) at Wedbush.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $57 price target at Bernstein, and Deutsche Bank downgraded it to Hold from Buy with a $56 price target. Shares closed down 2.2% at $51.04 on Thursday, with a $50.59 consensus target price.

Ideaya Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: IDYA) was reiterated as Outperform with a $21 price target (versus a $12.84 close) at Wedbush, with the firm noting a very robust pipeline and partnerships after its results.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was started as Underperform with a $12 price target (versus a $13.39 close) at BNP Paribas. The stock had a $13.84 consensus target price and a 52-week trading range of $6.61 to $21.65.


Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: KOD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $105 price target (versus a $122.63 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was named as the Bear of the Day at Zacks, with the firm noting that it prefers its top rival Uber in ride-sharing. Shares closed up 0.1% at $36.46 ahead of the call.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with an $80 price target (versus a $74.34 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Masonite International Corp. (NYSE: DOOR) was raised from Neutral to Outperform with a $108 price target (versus an $83.84 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that the recent sell-off in the shares since being above $100 in October has presented a buying opportunity.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was started as Neutral with a $52 price target (versus a $49.27 close) at Wedbush. The firm did note that the company is well-positioned for a storage market recovery, but it also believes the broader storage market has yet to bottom and it seems fully valued under the current circumstances.

Open Lending Corp. (NASDAQ: OPEN) was started as Neutral with a $30 price target at B. Riley FBR.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $15 price target at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed down almost 9% at $14.54 on Thursday, but its shares had run up from under $11 since November 4. Shares traded at $14.25 after it raised earnings and revenues.

Shift Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SFT) closed up 3.8% at $9.89 on Thursday, but weak earnings and guidance had its stock down 24% at $7.50 early on Friday. Wedbush gave it a two-notch downgrade to Underperform from Outperform and slashed its price target to $7 from $15.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was started as Outperform with a $55 price target (versus a $41.92 close) at BNP Paribas. It had a $48.32 consensus target price, and its 52-week trading range is $22.47 to $58.83.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $220 price target at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed up 2.4% at $186.99 on Thursday, with a $247.20 consensus target price. The 52-week trading range is $75.20 to $253.00.

Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $90 from $82 (versus a $72.42 close) at Wedbush.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was started as Underperform with a $32 price target (versus a $36.85 close, after a 4.3% drop) at BNP Paribas. It had a $42.29 consensus target price. The 52-week trading range is $17.80 to $93.72.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U) was down 3.6% at $101.74 ahead of earnings. Despite trading lower in the after-hours, the early-bird indications had the stock up about 1% at $103.00 on Friday morning. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating with a $125 price target. Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target from $112 to $115.

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) was started with an Outperform rating and a $312 price target (versus a $262.85 close) at BNP Paribas.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was down almost 1.7% at $135.52 ahead of its earnings report, but it was last seen up over 4% at $141.40 after beating earnings expectations with a narrower loss and much stronger paid Disney+ streaming subscribers. Ahead of earnings, Morgan Stanley reiterated Disney as Overweight and raised its target to $160 from $135. On Friday, RBC Capital Markets upgraded it to Outperform with a $170 target. BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price objective to $166 from $146. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating with the same $146 target price.


MSCI will be doing its semiannual indexes rebalancing at the end of November, and five of the new additions are slated to see some serious buying. We cover all five and the expected net shares that are expected to be traded.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Beyond Meat, Home Depot, KeyCorp, Lowe’s, Nike, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, PG&E, Salesforce.com and Under Armour.

 

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