Stocks closed mixed on Thursday, but Friday’s index readings were lower by 0.6% on the Dow Jones industrial average and 0.7% on the S&P 500 as stimulus talks are delayed again. What investors are grappling with now is that the equity indexes are still near all-time highs, despite all the caution and concern. COVID-19 cases continue to spike, the election noise is dragging on, the economic recovery is slowing and more benefits are expected to run out very soon. Investors also have to deal with valuations that are hard to justify and market indexes that were very overbought ahead of this weekend.

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, December 11, 2020.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $1,325 price target at Jefferies.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) stock was down 1.5% at $410.04 per share ahead of earnings, and it was last seen trading down another 1.7% at $403.00 afterward. Rosenblatt reiterated it as Buy and raised its price target to $470 from $430. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target from $410 to $470.

Commscope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with an $18 target price at JPMorgan. The stock closed up 1.3% at $13.16 a share, and it has a $13.16 consensus target price.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $180 price target at Deutsche Bank.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was started with an Overweight rating and was assigned a $150 price target (versus a $131.21 prior close) at Piper Sandler.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $180 from $160 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock closed up 3.8% at $165.30 per share ahead of this call, and it has a $164.20 consensus target price.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was started with a Neutral rating at Piper Sandler.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Lordstown Motors Corp. (NASDAQ: RIDE) was started with a Buy rating and a $31 price target (versus an $18.17 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. The stock was last seen trading up over 10% at $20.50 a share on Friday morning.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $55 from $48 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The shares closed up 1.2% at $48.11 and have a $47.95 consensus target price.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started with an Overweight rating and was assigned a $174 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ: QDEL) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that COVID-19 and influenza A+B tests have launched sales and profit estimates triple digits into 2021. Shares most recently closed at $197.09 and have a consensus price target of $285.25.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $134 price target at Citigroup.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was started with an Overweight rating and was assigned a $325 price target (versus a $273.48 prior close) at Piper Sandler.

Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, but this was also after a cumulative 65% gain after earnings this week. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $65 from $56.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy but its price target was raised to $650 from $500 at Jefferies. Tesla closed up 3.7% at $627.07 a share on Thursday, and the stock traded down about 1.8% at $615.20 on Friday.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $60 from $50 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock closed up 1% at $54.35 a share, and it has a $52.27 consensus target price.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $182 from $177 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock closed up almost 0.2% at $154.69 a share, but after the analyst day, the stock was up 8% at $167.00 on Friday morning.

Investors have a chance to buy five top stocks with huge dividend payouts at discount pricing. Even if recovery in the share prices takes a while, the high dividends will make the wait more than tolerable.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Best Buy, Booking, ConocoPhillips, CRISPR Therapeutics, Fisker, Halliburton, Lordstown Motors, RH, Tesla, Walt Disney and Zscaler.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.