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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, Cadence Design, Cree, DocuSign, Fortinet, JD.com, McDonald's, Micron, Tesla and More
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The futures were slightly lower on Tuesday after the first day of trading for 2021 saw some of the biggest selling in months. The one positive sign for investors was that all three major indexes avoided closing at the lows of the day, a sign that the “buy the dip” strategy of 2020 may still be in place. Investors should be reviewing portfolios very closely now and making adjustments in positioning for the first quarter and the balance of 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 Tuesday, January 5, 2021.
Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Atlantic Equities. Many Wall Street firms started coverage on the shares on Monday, with mixed outlooks for the stock. Since going public, the stock has traded between $121.50 and $174.97. The last trade on Monday was reported at $139.15.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this stock has missed a few earnings reports of late and lower estimates don’t help. Shares last closed at $268.20 and have a Wall Street consensus price target of $306.35.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $155 price objective at Keybanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is $126.26, and Monday’s closing price was $135.76.
Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which also dropped the price target on the food giant to $34. That compares with a $38.63 consensus target and a $35.99 closing print on Monday.
Corsair Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: CRSR) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the pandemic has made gamers a whole lot more committed to their game craft. Shares most recently closed at $34.75 and have a consensus price target of $40.11.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Overweight to Neutral with a $108 price target. The consensus target is a much lower $74. With the shares closing Monday at $106.99, this looks like a straight valuation call.
DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Pipe Sandler, which also raised the target price to $300. The consensus target is $279.45. The shares were last seen Monday at $222.41.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was downgraded at Goldman Sachs from Buy to Sell with an $81 price objective. The consensus target is $86.53. The last trade Monday hit the tape at $101.24, and shares were down almost 4% in premarket trading.
Hubspot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, where the analysts also lifted the price objective to $450. The consensus target is $403.25. The last print on Monday was posted at $387.74.
JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel with a $105 price target. The consensus price target is $99.77. The shares closed Monday at $86.33 and were higher in the premarket.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was started with an Outperform rating and a $240 price target at Wedbush. The consensus target is $241.53, and Monday’s closing trade was $210.22.
Merit Medical Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MMSI) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $65 price target at Needham. The consensus target is $61, and Monday’s final trade came in at $54.76.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was upgraded from a Sell rating to a Buy at Citigroup, which also raised the price target for the chip giant to $100. The consensus price target is just $80.15. The last trade hit the tape on Monday at $74.05. Shares traded 3% higher in premarket action.
Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA) was downgraded from Overweight to Neutral with a $250 price target at Piper Sandler. It has a higher $261.06 consensus target, and Monday’s closing price was $250.67.
PTC Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) was upgraded at Citigroup from Neutral to Buy, and the analysts lifted the price target on the shares to $85 as well. The consensus target is $62.17. Monday’s closing trade was at $60.50.
Rapid7 Inc. (NYSE: RPD) was downgraded from Overweight to Neutral with a $95 price objective at Piper Sandler. The consensus target price is $77.67, and the shares ended Monday at $89.78.
Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJF) was raised from Sell at Goldman Sachs to Buy, while the price target rose to $110. The consensus target for the shares is $96.67. The final Monday trade came in at $94.03. The stock was 2% higher in the premarket.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Exane BNP Paribas, which has an ultra-low $340 target for the electric vehicle colossus. That compares with a much higher consensus target of $431.33 and Monday’s monster close of $729.77.
Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) was started with a Buy rating and a $93 price objective at Truist Securities. The consensus target is just $77.36. Monday’s closing trade was reported at $74.26.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs have made some surprising changes to price targets and ratings on 10 hot solar energy stocks.
Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AT&T, Airbnb, Boeing, Chubb, Coca-Cola, DoorDash, Expedia, Goldman Sachs and McDonald’s. Analyst calls made later in the day included Citigroup, Groupon, Morgan Stanley and Spotify.
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