Apple Gets Out of Earnings Alive, Musk Owns Twitter and Friday Afternoon’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Investing

Published: October 28, 2022 11:10 am

Markets pushed higher to close out the week, marking a series of session gains that have not been seen in recent memory. Even though earnings season was somewhat stunted for big tech companies, the rest of the market has found a way to adapt and grow, especially in light of a recent positive gross domestic product report.

Amazon was crushed after reporting its most recent quarterly results. The firm saw shares dip as much as 20% in the after-hours session, but this was mitigated at the opening bell and shares were only down about 10%. On the other hand, Apple reported record revenue but missed analyst projections in a couple key categories, namely iPhones and Services. However, Apple shares railed 4% at the open, making it the only big tech company of this group to make it out with a gain.

On the other side of the tech world, Elon Musk has taken control of the social media giant Twitter. Musk is cleaning house and reportedly has fired the chief executive and chief financial officer, along with other top executives, in a bid to revamp the platform. Musk has said that a digital town square where ideas can be discussed freely is important for the future of humanity and it should diminish the political polarization being seen today. Maybe he can turn a profit too.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Friday. 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 Biogen, Carnival, Meta, Seagate, Waste Management and more.

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE: AXTA): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $27 price target. The shares traded near $23 on Friday. The 52-week range is $20.66 to $34.12.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Deutsche Bank’s downgrade was to Hold from Buy, but it raised the $196 price target to $221. The stock traded near $215 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $160.60 to $237.90.

DigitalOcean Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DOCN): KeyBanc Capital Markets cut its Overweight rating to Sector Weight. Shares traded near $35 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $30.05 to $133.40.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW): The Outperform rating at Oppenheimer was cut to Perform. The stock traded near $71 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $70.26 to $131.73.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): Wolfe Research upgraded the shares to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $170 price target. The 52-week trading range is $59.60 to $145.74, and the share price was near $128 on Friday.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD): The upgrade at Truist was to Buy from Hold and included a price target hike to $91 from $76. Piper Sandler upgraded it to Overweight from Neutral, and its $79 price target increased to $96. The stock was last seen trading near $77, in a 52-week range of $57.17 to $77.00.

Horizon Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HBNC): Keefe Bruyette’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a price target cut to $18 from $23. Shares have traded as high as $24 in the past year but were changing hands near $15 on Friday.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Summit Insights raised its Hold rating to Buy. Barclays upgraded the stock from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $30 price target. The stock has traded as high as $56 a share in the past year but was last seen near $28. That is down nearly 49% year to date.

Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): The D.A. Davidson downgrade was from Buy to Neutral with a $250 price target. The stock has traded as high as $314 a share in the past year but was last seen trading around $219. That is down over 4% year to date.

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ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD): Citigroup’s downgrade was to Neutral from Buy. The 52-week trading range is $189.40 to $275.60. Shares changed hands near $215 apiece on Friday.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK): The downgrade at Robert Baird to Neutral from Outperform came with a price target reduction to $80 from $85. The shares traded near $77 on Friday. The 52-week range is $70.24 to $199.20.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): As Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral, it also cut the $42 price target to $38. The 52-week trading range is $26.92 to $210.00. Shares changed hands near $28 apiece on Friday.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU): UBS downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and has a $12 price target. The stock traded near $14 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $13.05 to $20.40.

Five top Warren Buffett stocks come with solid dividends, and the companies topped third-quarter earnings estimates. These stocks make sense for worried growth and income investors with a long-term horizon.

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