Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Boeing, EMC, Hertz, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Twitter, XOMA and More

July 23, 2015 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were mixed to lower on Thursday morning as investors digesting more and more earnings reports that are hit by soft sales or a strong dollar. Still, the one trend that has held up for almost four years now is that investors have bought every stock market sell-off. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was reiterated as Neutral at Credit Suisse after closing up 1% at $146.47 after earnings, but the firm raised its price target to $156 from $152 in the call. Wells Fargo reiterated its Outperform rating and fair value range of $163 to $166 late on Wednesday. Boeing has a consensus target price of $164.55 and a 52-week trading range of $116.32 to $158.83.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo after earnings, and the firm raised its valuation range to $29.00 to $31.00 from $26.00 to $28.00. Argus reiterated its Buy rating on EMC and its target price of $35 (versus a $25.38 close). EMC has a consensus price target of $29.68 and a 52-week range of $24.74 to $30.92.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $15 price target (versus a $16 prior target and a $17.99 close) at Morgan Stanley. Hertz has a consensus price target of $24.70 and a 52-week range of $16.65 to $31.61.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) had poor earnings but is pursuing some of the Jana Partners’ activist efforts. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating but cut the price target to $70 from $75, and Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating and cut the target to $77 from $80 in its call. Canaccord Genuity lowered its price target to $75 from $77, and Wells Fargo maintained its Outperform rating while slashing Qualcomm’s fair value range to $70.00 to $80.00 from $74.00 to $84.00.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) beat earnings and managed to keep guidance high enough that Wall Street has sent shares up over 12% to $61.00 in early indications on Thursday. SanDisk was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $75 from $60 (versus a $54.18 close) at B. Riley. Credit Suisse reiterated its Neutral rating and $65 price target, but it raised forward earnings expectations slightly. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $75 price objective.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $47 from $55 at Brean Capital. Twitter closed at $36.09, has a consensus price target of $45.58 and has a 52-week range of $33.51 to $55.99.

XOMA Corp. (NASDAQ: XOMA) fell 77% to $1.00 from a prior $4.39 close on Wednesday, after a drug failed to meet its primary endpoint. Jefferies downgraded XOMA to Hold from Buy and slashed the price target from $7 to $1. We just asked if this was the end for XOMA.

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Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations this Thursday were seen in the following:

America Movil SAB de C.V. (NYSE: AMX) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Fortinet shares were last seen up 12% at $47.40 after strong earnings. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $55 from $50.

Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $82 (versus a $73.70 close) at Argus.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

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Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: PNFP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, and the firm’s price target was cut to $155 from $161. Shares were indicated down almost 5% at $140.35.

QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $12 from $14 (versus an $11.58 close) at Morgan Stanley.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) was started as Overweight with a $27 price target (versus a $17.08 close) at JPMorgan.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $77 price target (versus a $76.67 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Thoratec Corp. (NASDAQ: THOR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo after the news of it being acquired.

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UCTT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with an $8 price target (versus a $5.42 close) at Northland Securities.

United Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UTX) may have fallen handily after earnings, but Cowen raised its rating to Outperform from Neutral while trimming its price target to $119 from $125. United Technologies closed at $101.55, and it has a consensus price target close to $120 and a 52-week range of $97.30 to $124.45.

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Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Exxon Mobil, LifeLock, Microsoft, PayPal, Chipotle Mexican Grill and over a dozen more companies.

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