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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amex, Apple, Baidu, CarMax, Chewy, Disney, Lululemon, Micron, Moderna, Slack, Zoom Video and More
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Stocks have been looking for direction this week, and the major indexes were last seen trading up about 0.2% on Wednesday morning. The huge spike in COVID-19 cases, Brexit woes, a slower economic recovery and stalled stimulus talks are all now on the table. The major indexes are also still basically very close to all-time highs, and the market feels a bit stretched and overbought heading into year-end. Investors need to decide how they want to be positioned for the new year.
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 Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: AEIS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $120 from $107 at Rosenblatt. Shares were last seen trading at $102.33 apiece.
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at DZ Bank.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $160 from $150 at Wedbush Securities. This appears to be a street-high price target, and the analyst call’s supercycle for the iPhone also noted that its “bull-case” target went up to $200 from $175.
Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $41 price target (versus a $36.57 prior close) at JPMorgan.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was raised to Overweight from Underweight and its target price was raised to $345 from $240 at JPMorgan. Shares were last seen trading at $284.38.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $190 price target (versus a $144.99 prior close) at UBS.
Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $90 from $75 at Needham. Shares were last seen trading at $79.15.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $94 price target at UBS. Shares were last seen trading at $70.83.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was raised to Overweight from Underweight and its target was raised to $450 from $300 at JPMorgan.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that a long-awaited breakout finally came for Micron bulls. Shares most recently closed at $73.19, and they have a consensus price target of $74.33.
Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham. The stock closed up 6.5% at $169.86 a share on Tuesday, and it has a $122.60 consensus target price.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $57 price target at UBS. The stock closed down 3.6% at $42.04 a share, and it had a $53.86 consensus target price ahead of the call.
RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that upcoming earnings will question the bull’s ability to “make it rain.” Shares last closed at $28.01 and have a consensus price target of $32.00.
Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Summit Materials Inc. (NYSE: SUM) was started with a Sell rating at UBS.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was started with a Buy rating and a $62 price target at UBS. The stock closed down almost 8% at $45.32 per share ahead of the call. It has a $50.60 consensus target price.
VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) was raised to Overweight with a $246 price target at JPMorgan. The stock closed at $206.92 ahead of the call and has a $240.57 consensus target price.
Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) was started with a Neutral rating at UBS.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and its target was set at $182 at Wells Fargo. KeyBanc Capital Markets started Disney with an Overweight rating and a $177 price target. The shares closed at $153.72 apiece, and they have a $154.84 consensus target price.
Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. The stock closed up 1% at $412.00, and it has a $485.59 consensus price target.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Clorox, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Garmin, Jabil, Newell Brands, Palo Alto Networks, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Smartsheet.
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