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Even More Earnings on the Way: Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Alibaba, Alphabet, Apple and More

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Markets pushed higher again on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq posting a gain of nearly 2% on the day thus far. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 were lagging but still positive, up about 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively.

Earnings season is underway, and perhaps the biggest name coming up is Tesla, which reports after markets close on Wednesday. Other big names are coming up too, like Twitter. But look out next week for some of the biggest tech companies reporting like Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Block, Dollar General, Gilead Sciences, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft and more.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): Bernstein’s upgrade to Outperform from Market Perform included a price target hike to $130 from $115. The stock traded near $104 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $73.28 to $216.39.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $118 price target. The 52-week trading range is $101.88 to $151.55, and shares were trading near $115 on Wednesday.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Wells Fargo reiterated an Overweight rating but cut the $205 price target to $185. Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and cut its price target from $185 to $180. The stock traded near $153 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $129.04 to $182.94.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP): BofA Securities raised its Underperform rating to Buy and its $130 price target increased to $140. The 52-week trading range is $107.85 to $149.62, and shares traded near $127 apiece on Wednesday.

F5 Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy. The firm also cut its $215 price target to $170. The 52-week trading range is $142.43 to $249.00, and shares traded above $153 apiece on Wednesday.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): Wolfe Research’s downgrade was to Peer Perform from Outperform. The 52-week range is $67.58 to $310.16. Shares traded near $80 apiece on Wednesday.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN): Cleveland Research’s Buy rating was lowered to Neutral. The shares traded near $82 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $69.88 to $100.72 a share.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL): When Stifel upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, it also raised the $90 price target to $94. The 52-week trading range is $72.08 to $138.78. The stock traded near $81 on Wednesday.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM): Bernstein initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $122 price target. The stock traded near $109 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $79.03 to $404.35.


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See whether Deutsche Bank thinks GM EVs are a threat to Tesla.

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