The futures were slightly lower on Thursday after another wild day on Wall Street, which saw the futures reverse before the open, and stocks sold off fast. However, like Tuesday, there was a major reversal mid-morning, and all of the major indexes and the Russell 2000 took off higher. The Dow Jones industrial average printed a new all-time high, as did the transports, which we have noted bodes well for the economy and the bull market long term. Top analysts continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, and many are urging caution.

While fourth-quarter earnings results are almost complete, most across Wall Street still are not only examining the results but also looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of the year looks like. With stocks very overbought, major Wall Street firms are warning of an impending 5% to 10% correction, so it makes sense now for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for the rest 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 Thursday, February 25, 2021.

AstraZeneca Inc. (NASDAQ: AZN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $36.15 to $64.94 and have a consensus price target of $62.35. The stock closed trading on Wednesday at $50.10.

Chuy’s Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHUY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets, which also raised the target price on the Mexican-style restaurant chain to $42. The consensus target is $32.71, and the stock closed Wednesday at $43.95, up close to 4% on the day. As it is trading just shy of a 52-week high, this looks like a valuation call.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was downgraded at BofA Securities from Buy to Neutral with a $215 price target. That compares with the higher consensus of $239.88 and Wednesday’s $192.61 final trade.

Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ: EPZM) was downgraded at Morgan Stanley from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $14 price target. The consensus target is $21.25, and the last trade for Wednesday came in at $10.19.

Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: AQUA) was raised at Credit Suisse from Neutral to Outperform with a $30 price target. That compares to the $29.55 consensus and Wednesday’s $24.67 final print.

Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) was downgraded at Credit Suisse from Neutral to Underperform with a $285 price target. The consensus target for the HVAC giant is $282.85, and the closing price on Wednesday was $290.52.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was raised to Buy from Accumulate at Gordon Haskett, which has a $202 price target on the retail home improvement giant. The $193 consensus target is well above Wednesday’s close at $162.31, which was down almost 4% for the day.

Newmark Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NMRK) was raised at BofA Securities from Underperform to Buy with a $20 price target. The consensus target is much lower at $9.83. The stock rose almost 3% on Wednesday to close at $10.51. The shares followed through in the premarket, up almost another 5%, after it posted results that beat analysts’ estimates.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC Securities, which raised the price target on the shoe and apparel leader to $158. The consensus target is higher at $162.65. The stock closed on Wednesday at $135.65.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) saw its $35 price target at Telsey Advisory Group raised to $40 with an Outperform rating. The consensus target for the high-end retailer is $32.47. The stock closed most recently at $37.39.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) saw its price target raised at Cowen to $665 from $600. The firm kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The consensus target price for the semiconductor giant is $605.20. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $579.96.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) was raised at Citigroup from Neutral to Buy with a $225 price objective. The consensus target is $201.36, and shares were last seen on Wednesday trading at $186.21, after nearly a 3% gain.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, which lowered the price target to $30. The consensus target is up at $34.53, and shares closed Wednesday at $32.41. The shares were about 17% in the premarket after the cybersecurity software company posted results that missed expectations.

Pure Storage Inc. (NASDAQ: PSTG) saw its target price raised to $30 from $22 at Cowen, which has an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $24.35. The shares closed Wednesday at $25.76.
Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that doubling of merchants and gross merchandise value in the latest quarter bodes well for the little Amazon in $6 trillion total addressable market. Shares most recently closed at $1,301.15 and have a consensus price target of $1,435.01.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $288 price target at Guggenheim. That is well above the $264.05 consensus target. On Wednesday, the stock closed down almost 8% to $237.32 despite a solid quarterly report.

Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was raised at Credit Suisse from Neutral to Outperform with a $79 price target. The consensus target is $82.62. The last trade to hit the tape Wednesday came in at $62.56, which was up almost 4% for the day.

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB) was started with an Overweight rating and a $600 price target at Piper Sandler. The much lower consensus target is $507.06. The stock closed Wednesday at $540.13, up almost 4% on the day.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was downgraded from Buy to Hold with a $68 price target at Gordon Haskett. The consensus target for the popular discount retailer is $76.35. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $69.86, very near the 52-week high, so this could be another valuation call.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the cloud darling for intelligent corporate comms has a bright future but a temporary squall on earnings growth. Shares last closed at $408.96 and have a consensus price target of $512.83.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Eagle Outfitters, BigCommerce, Canopy Growth, Energizer, Foot Locker, Harley-Davidson, McAfee, Snap and Square. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Abercrombie & Fitch, Mattel, Western Digital and more.

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