The futures were up big on Monday, the first trading day of March, as investors embrace the U.S. House of Representatives passing the massive $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. This comes after a busy and wild week as spiking interest rates, which backed up on Friday in a big way, competed with huge swings in all of the indexes. Top analysts continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, and many are urging caution.
With fourth-quarter earnings results all but complete, most across Wall Street have not only been examining the final results but looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With stocks very overbought, and major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction, it makes sense 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 Monday, March 1, 2021.
Apache Corp. (NASDAQ: APA | APA Price Prediction) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with a $20 price target at Bernstein. The consensus target for the energy company is $20.71. The shares closed Friday at $19.73 and traded up almost 3% in Monday’s premarket.
[nativounit]
Bain Capital Specialty Finance Inc. (NYSE: BSCF) was raised at Wells Fargo from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $14 price target. The consensus target is $13.79. The shares were last seen on Friday at $14.06.
Beam Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, which raised the price target to $90. The consensus target is $95.50. The last trade for Friday hit the tape at $89.31. The stock was up over 3% in premarket action.
CME Group Inc. (NYSE: CME) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette, which also raised the price target to $197. The consensus target is $193.59, and Friday’s close was at $199.70 a share.
[recirclink id=843603]
Cree Inc. (NYSE: CREE) was started at BofA Securities with a Buy rating and a $140 price target. The consensus target is much lower at $113. Friday’s close was reported at $113.46, up almost 8% on the day, and the shares added an additional 3% in Monday’s premarket.
Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN) was started at Jefferies with a Buy rating and a $220 target. The consensus target is $199, and the closing trade for Friday came in at $185.24.
ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS, which raised the price target to $232. The consensus target is $224.08. The stock closed on Friday at $180.68.
Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NYSE: KOD) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which raised the price target to $90. The consensus target is higher at $135.82. Friday’s close was at $129.01 a share.
Life Storage Inc. (NYSE: LSI) was raised to Outperform from Inline at Evercore ISI, which also raised the price target to $94. That compares with the lower $89.23 consensus and a final print on Friday at $83.90.
[recirclink id=843643]
ON24 Inc. (NYSE: ONTF) was started with a Buy rating and a $70 price target at Needham. The analysts noted they believe that the company has strong profitability and revenue growth potential. Goldman Sachs started the shares with a Buy rating and an $88 target, while Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating with a $70 target. As this company recently went public, there is no consensus target yet. The final trade on Friday came in at $56.56. Shares are up over 6% in the premarket.
On Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON) was raised at BofA Securities from Underperform to Buy with a $48 target. The consensus target is $40.20. The stock was last seen trading on Friday at $40.27. The shares were up over 4% in premarket trading.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $143 price objective at Bernstein. The consensus target for the energy giant is $164.84. The stock closed at $148.57 on Friday.
Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that COVID-19 is still having an adverse effect on the broader fitness industry. Shares last closed at $86.09 but have a consensus price target of just $81.92.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which has a $65 price target. That compares with the $61.70 consensus target and Friday’s closing trade of $48.38, which was up a massive 12% on the day. The shares followed through in the premarket, adding an additional 6%.
Re/Max Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RMAX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $44 price target at Compass Point. The consensus target for the real estate giant is $40.50. The last trade on Friday came in at $41.72, just shy of a 52-week high, so this could be a valuation call.
Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that music and a hot, in-demand gaming console are driving this consumer stock. Shares most recently closed at $105.81 and have a consensus price target all the way up at $147.39.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR) was raised at Morgan Stanley to Overweight from Neutral with a $50 price target. The consensus target is much lower at $43.18. The stock was last seen on Friday at $42.83, and the shares were up almost 4% in the premarket.
Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS, though the firm lowered its price target to $177. The consensus target is $199.46. Shares closed on Friday at $163.85.
Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $370 target price at Truist Securities. The much lower consensus target is $313.73, and Friday’s close was at $288.98, which was up 12% on the day.
WSFS Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: WSFS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, but the firm raised the price target to $55. The $50.40 consensus target is lower than Friday’s close at $53.14 per share.
Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $27.93 to $74.32 and have a consensus price target of $73.79. The last trade for Friday was reported at $63.99.
[recirclink id=843258]
It appears that some top hedge funds that were shorting tech IPOs as soon as they could are now piling back into the shares. Four such companies offer stellar technologies and applications, and their stocks make sense for aggressive investors looking for solid ideas.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AIG, Best Buy, Carvana, Dell Technologies, HP, L Brands, Monster Beverage, Twitter and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Centerpoint, Editas and more.
[wallst_email_signup]
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks