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Monday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Ally Financial, AppLovin, Nvidia, RingCentral, Spirit Aerosystems, Walgreens and More
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The futures traded lower to start the new trading week, after a rollercoaster ride last week that saw the midterm elections (which are still not totally counted) and the consumer price index (CPI) data that came in below expectations and sparked the biggest one-day rally since March of 2020. All the major indexes ended higher Friday, with the Nasdaq leading the way once again by closing up 1.9%.
While the CPI print was encouraging, the reality is 7.7% year-over-year inflation is still huge, and the Federal Reserve likely will raise the benchmark funds rate in December by another 50 basis points. With the Veterans Day holiday on Friday the bond market was closed, after a massive Thursday rally pounded rates lower. In fact, rates dropped so much on Thursday that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped back below 7%. The bond market will keep a very close eye on the two-year and 10-year note inversion this week.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude marched higher again on Friday, up 2.25% and 2.88% respectively. Analysts cited the potential for China to lift COVID-19 restrictions yet again as the tailwind for the black gold. Natural gas was the big loser in the energy complex, closing down almost 6% on Friday. Gold traded higher, while Bitcoin closed down almost 4% on the heels of the FTX dumpster fire.
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 Monday, November 14, 2022.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and has a $91 target price. The consensus target is $91.77, and Friday’s closing print of $72.37 was up almost 6% on the day.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): Pointing out that auto loan loss provisions are on the rise, Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $53.83 in the past year but closed most recently at $29.50. That is down more than 17% in the past 90 days, while the S&P 500 has retreated less than 8%.
AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral with a $17 target price. The consensus target is $33.59. Friday’s final trade was reported at $16.94.
Coherent Corp. (NASDAQ: COHR): Though BofA Securities upgraded it to Buy from Neutral, the firm also cut the $63 price target to $45. The consensus target is $62.13. The stock closed on Friday at $38.74, which was up almost 11% after posting revenues in line with Wall Street expectations.
CS Disco Inc. (NYSE: LAW): Stifel lowered its $30 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $20. The consensus target is $19.64. Friday’s $10.35 close up over 9% for the day on solid quarterly results.
FIGS Inc. (NYSE: FIGS): Raymond James cut its Strong Buy rating to Outperform and lowered the $12 price target to $8. The consensus target is $12.95. The $6.89 close on Friday was up almost 5% for the day after beating third-quarter estimates.
Genius Sports Ltd. (NYSE: GENI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $47 target price. The consensus is $7.75 and shares closed on Friday at $4.74, which was up close to 5% after posting solid results.
GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating but lowered its $78 target price to $64. The consensus target is $61.63. The shares ended Friday’s session at $44.94, up over 6% on the day in the wake of solid results.
Heartland Express Inc. (NASDAQ: HTLD): UBS’s upgrade to Buy from Hold included a price target nudge to $18 from $17. The consensus target is $16.43. The stock closed on Friday at $15.49.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE: HII): The BofA Securities downgrade was from Neutral to Underperform with a $230 target price. The consensus target is $257.55. The stock closed almost 7% lower on Friday at $227.58 on the stiff downgrade.
Light & Wonder Inc. (NYSE: LNW): Macquarie raised the stock to Outperform from Neutral, but it also trimmed its $69 target price to $65. The consensus target is $64.88. Friday’s close was at $58.95.
Lumentum Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): BofA Securities not only downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy but slashed its $84 target price to $62. The consensus target is $81.86 for now. The shares ended Friday at $57.73, up over 2% on the day, after posting solid results last week.
Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MPWR): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $435 target price. The consensus target is up at $450.02. The shares closed on Friday at $393.37.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Oppenheimer cut its $250 target price to $225 but kept an Outperform rating. The consensus target is still lower at $190. Friday’s close was at $163.27.
Paycor HCM Inc. (NASDAQ: PYCR): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $45 price objective. The consensus target is $35.79 and the stock closed on Friday at $27.68.
RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): Goldman Sachs lowered its $95 price target to $70 but reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $63.04. The last trade for Friday came in at $40.12, up almost 9% on the day, after posting solid quarterly results last week.
SciPlay Corp. (NASDAQ: SCPL): The Hold rating at Craig Hallum was raised to Buy, and the analyst bumped up the target price to $17 from $14. The consensus target is $15.73. The stock closed almost 5% on Friday at $14.90. The company missed earnings estimates last week.
Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy. It also cut its $49 price target to $26, well below the $36.60 consensus target. The last trade on Friday was for $28.24 a share, which was down almost 4% for the day.
Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM): MKM Partners downgraded the company to Neutral from Buy and has a $38 target price. The consensus target is $31.54. The stock closed on Friday at $33.10.
Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK): Goldman Sachs lowered its price target on the medical devices giant to $197 from $226 and maintained a Sell rating. The consensus target is $224.29. Friday’s close was at $224.29.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA): Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised its $41 target price to $50. The consensus target is $39.24. The shares closed on Friday at $41.26, up almost 8% for the day on the upgrade.
Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN): UBS’s upgrade to Buy from Hold came with a price target boost to $51 from $44. The consensus target is $44.76. Friday’s close was at $41.12.
Willis Towers Watson PLC (NASDAQ: WTW): Truist Financial raised its $260 price target to $275 and reiterated a Buy rating. Shares have traded as high as $244.73 in the past year and closed most recently at $233.89.
Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $84 target price. The consensus target is$94.64. The stock closed on Friday at $84.99.
W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE: WRB): Janney initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $88 target price. The consensus target is $79.64. Friday’s close at $69.77 was down almost 5% on the day. Results for the quarter missed estimates last week.
With inflation still well above the Federal Reserve target of 2%, continued demand from central banks and worried investors could drive gold prices much higher. Six top gold stocks are rated Buy and come with dependable (and in some cases big) dividends.
Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, Altria, AppLovin, Bumble, Cano Health, Hanesbrands, Okta, Palo Alto Networks, Redfin, RingCentral, Rivian Automotive, Roblox, Salesforce, SunPower, TJX Companies, Upstart and Viatris. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Freeport-McMoRan, GSK, Intel, L3Harris Technologies, Occidental Petroleum, Roku, Six Flags Entertainment, Spirit AeroSystems, Sprouts Farmers Market, TuSimple and more.
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