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Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Amgen, Chipotle, DuPont, Lyft, MGM, Newmont, Progressive and More
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The futures were lower on Thursday, after another stellar day across Wall Street when all the major indexes closed higher and buyers finally returned to the Treasury market, as yields fell some across the curve. The consumer price index numbers came in worse than expected, and that could put a halt to this week’s sizzling rally. Inflation rates remain at 40-year highs, and investors may become concerned that the first rate hike in March could be 50 basis points instead of 25 basis points.
After a few days of selling, the oil markets also bounced back nicely, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude closing higher after the Energy Information Administration reported a much higher crude oil inventory draw than what was expected. That, combined with TotalEnergies chief executive saying that high oil prices could be here for a while, was the impetus behind the strength.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 10, 2022.
Absolute Software Corp. (NASDAQ: ABST): TD Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and lifted the target price to $13 from $11. The consensus target is much higher at $17.67. The stock closed Wednesday at $9.61, up almost 20% after the company posted stellar results.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day stock, citing a 22% earnings beat and first-quarter guidance boosted 31% above consensus. Shares last closed at $132.85 and have a consensus price target of $153.81.
Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): Estimates came down after mixed guidance, but it looks like the pessimism was discounted already, says Zacks, which selected this maker of orthodontic products as the Bear of the Day. The stock has traded as high as $737.45 in the past year but closed most recently at $545.94, which is down nearly 17% year to date.
Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA): Baird upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and has a $200 price target. The consensus target is $219.65. The final trade on Wednesday was at $151.72, which was up nearly 5% for the day.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the biotechnology giant and lifted the target price to $280 from $266. Barclays kept an Equal Weight rating and raised the target price to $233 from $228, while Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and boosted its $272 target price to $285. The $240.17 consensus target isn’t far off Wednesday’s closing price of $237.19 a share.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Barclays reiterated an Equal Weight rating on the popular restaurant chain and slashed the $1,845 target price to $1,635. Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and sliced its target to $1,903 from $1,920. The consensus target is $1,966.35. The final trade for Wednesday was posted at $1,608.74, which was up over 10% for the day.
Columbia Sportswear Inc. (NASDAQ: COLM): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised the target price to $116 from $110. The consensus target is $113.50. The closing share price on Wednesday was $100.35.
Core & Main Inc. (NYSE: CNM): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $25 price target. The consensus target is up at $33.45. The final trade for Wednesday was at $24.05 a share.
Corsair Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: CRSR): Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating but trimmed the target price to $31 from $34. Wedbush maintained an Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $28 from $34. The consensus target is $30.67. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $21.30, after close to a 5% gain for the day.
Cvent Inc. (NASDAQ: CVT): JPMorgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $8 target. The consensus target is $11. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $6.96.
DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD): Barclays reiterated an Equal Weight rating on the venerable specialty chemicals giant and moved the price target to $88 from $84. Citigroup kept a Buy rating but trimmed the $98 price target to $96, while Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating and raised its target to $100 from $95. The consensus target is $91.78. The stock closed on Wednesday at $81.49.
Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT): Capital One raised the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and lifted the target price to $145 from $130. The consensus target is $138.76. The shares were last seen on Wednesday up 3% to $126.49.
Hub Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG): UBS reiterated its Buy rating and bumped the $90 target price up to $93. Cowen kept an Outperform rating and lifted its target price to $115 from $90. Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight rating and pushed its $96 price target to $100. The consensus target is $90.50. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $79.97, up close to 6% after an outstanding earnings report.
Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT): UBS reiterated a Buy rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock and raised the target price to $50 from $46. Citigroup kept a Buy rating but slashed the $95 price target to $78, and Barclays maintained it at Equal Weight but lowered the target price to $47 from $59. The consensus target is $64.03, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $44, up close to 7% after posting overall solid results for the quarter.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM): Citigroup resumed coverage of the casino heavyweight with a Buy rating and a $57 per share target price. The consensus target price objective is lower at $54.68. The stock closed trading at $48.52 on Wednesday.
Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM): Canaccord Genuity downgraded the mining giant from Buy to Hold with a $65 price target. That compares with the much higher $97.99 consensus target, as well as Wednesday’s closing print of $63.15.
Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC): BofA Securities reiterated an Underperform rating while raising its price target to $77 from $67. Wells Fargo kept an Equal Weight rating and boosted the target price to $96 from $85. The consensus target price is $85.67. The stock closed Wednesday at $90.12, up close to 15% after posting stellar fourth-quarter results. As it is trading near a 52-week high, the cautious ratings could be valuation concerns.
Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): Edward Jones downgraded the insurance heavyweight to Hold from Buy. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $84.89 to $111.85, and the consensus target is $102.86. The final trade on Wednesday came in at $108.43 a share.
Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE: TRI): Canaccord Genuity upgraded the news and financial information giant to Buy from Hold and has a $117 target price. RBC Capital Markets also raised the shares, to Outperform from Sector Perform, but trimmed the price target to $120 from $124. The consensus target is $120.31. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $105.24.
TPG Inc. (NASDAQ: TPG): BMO Capital Markets started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $34 price target. The stock closed Wednesday at $32.40, which was a gain of almost 5% for the day.
Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL): Truist Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $550 price objective. That compares with a higher $564.58 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $491.07, which was up over 4% on the day.
Willis Tower Watson PLC (NASDAQ: WTW): The Wells Fargo downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a target price cut to $240 from $284. The stock ended trading Wednesday at $228.62.
Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO): Citigroup started coverage of the legacy recreational vehicle giant with a Buy rating and an $83 target price. That compares with the higher $91.17 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing price of $68.68 per share.
Six Raymond James Strong Buy stock picks look like excellent ideas for growth and income investors looking to reset portfolios for the rest of the year, especially those who are concerned about the potential for inflation to wreak havoc on the economy.
Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Annaly Capital Management, Clorox, Constellation Energy, Li Auto, Penn National Gaming, Teladoc Health, Transocean and Zimmer Biomet. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on General Motors, Lyft, Tenet Healthcare, Vale and more.
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