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Tuesday's Top Analyst Downgrades and Upgrades: Akamai, Apple, Clorox, Fastly, Fisker, Fiserv, Oracle and More
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The futures were mixed on Tuesday, after another divergent day of trading across Wall Street. Both the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 closed lower, with only the Nasdaq posting a gain. Inflation watchers are in for a pile of data this week, with the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports both due. The bipartisan infrastructure bill also is making incremental progress toward a Senate vote, but it is starting to face some Republican pushback. Yields moved higher Monday, as Treasury bonds across the curve were sold off.
Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be among the reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets even after sell-offs. Also note that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus for equities.
With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength 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 Tuesday, August 10, 2021.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD): Cowen reiterated its Outperform rating on the stock but lowered the price target to $335 from $360. The consensus target price is $323.23. The shares were last seen on Monday at $275.75, which was down over 5% on the day following an earnings report with guidance that fell short of analysts’ estimates.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Raymond James resumed coverage on the stock with an Outperform rating and a $128 price target. That is below the $130.33 consensus target but above Monday’s $115.09 closing share price.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Zacks named this iPhone maker as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst says that the recent report further cements the strength of the company’s non-iPhone businesses. Despite trading near new records, the stock’s valuation picture appears solid and it could be prepared to keep climbing. Shares last closed at $146.09, and the consensus price target is $159.34.
Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE): William Blair resumed coverage with a Market Perform rating. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $18.11 and $66.06 a share, and Wall Street has set a $46.93 consensus target. The final Monday trade came in at $18.16, which was down almost 28% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed a Phase 3 study on clinical hold.
Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX): This is the Zacks Bear of the Day. The analyst says that this was one of the early coronavirus stars, both in the real economy and the stock market. But the maker of disinfectant wipes and many other consumer products has seen its stock price tumble in the past year. Shares closed most recently at $164.85 apiece and have a consensus price target of $189.87.
Compass Inc. (NASDAQ: COMP): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and lifted the target price to $23 from $22. That compares with the $22.14 consensus target and Monday’s last trade of $15.28, after a gain of over 5% for the day.
ComScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but dropped the target price to $4.50 from $6.00. The consensus target is $4.91. The stock closed at $4.03 on Monday.
Fastly Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLY): Raymond James resumed coverage with a Market Perform rating. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded in a wide range of $33.87 to $136.50, and analysts have a $56.22 consensus price objective. The final trade for Monday was at $44.04, which was up almost 7% on the day.
Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV): Exane BNP Paribas raised the stock to Neutral from Underperform and has a $116 price target. The consensus target is up at $141.41. The most recent close was at $110.32 a share.
Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage on the electric vehicle stock with an Overweight rating and a $40 price target. The consensus target is just $23.22. The last trade to hit the tape on Monday came in at $15.03, after shares rose almost 4% on the day. They were up an additional 15% in premarket action on Tuesday.
Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA): Northcoast upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and has a $29 price target. The posted consensus target is $30.67. The last trade for Monday was reported at $22.36.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA): Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating but lowered the price target to $198 from $227. The consensus target is $209.81. The stock closed at $164.92 on Monday.
MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ): Cowen reiterated its Outperform rating but lowered the target price to $115 from $120. That is less than the $125.50 consensus target, and Monday’s closing trade was at $92.39 a share.
Model N Inc. (NASDAQ: MODN): Craig Hallum upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and nudged up the price target to $41 from $40. The consensus target is $49.71. The final trade for Monday came in at $32.59.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): DZ Bank downgraded the venerable technology giant to Sell from Hold and has an $82 price target. The consensus target is $79.49, and Monday’s close was at $89.90.
Public Storage (NYSE: PSA): Raymond James upgraded the self-storage giant to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $350 price target. The consensus target price is $301. The last trade on Monday hit the tape at $309.78.
Sohu.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOHU): Jefferies raised the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $28 price target. The consensus target is $21.90. The last print on Monday came in at $20.38, which was a gain of almost 5% for the day. The shares added an additional 5% in premarket action.
Waitr Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WTRH): Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating on the restaurant food delivery company, but the firm dropped the price target to $4 from $5. The posted consensus target is $6. The last trade Monday came in at $1.59.
Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, Advanced Micro Devices, Beyond Meat, Darden Restaurants, Dollar Tree, DraftKings, HP, Tesla and Victoria’s Secret. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Caesars Entertainment, Coinbase Global, Editas Medicine and Wynn Resorts and more.
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