Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Amazon, Celgene, Comerica, Fortinet, Gilead, Lennar, Netflix, Voya, Wayfair and Many More

January 20, 2016 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks were getting bruised on Wednesday with overseas pressure and oil sending Dow (-250) and S&P (-29) futures down yet again. Investors have to be thinking that 2016 is becoming the year of the sucker’s rally now that the 10% drop has been breached, but they have a history of more than four years of successfully buying every stock market pullback.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

We recently ran a downside projection using the most bearish analyst targets on Wall Street, and several fresh price targets lowered that DJIA downside to 14,961 from 15,076 for what may be a potential floor versus the old prior bullish upside target for Dow 19,700.

These are this Wednesday’s top analyst calls.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) fell after earnings guidance, but Jefferies maintained its Buy rating and $3.50 price target. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Hold rating and a $2.40 price target. AMD closed most recently down 3.9% at $1.95, but shares were indicated down 6% or so at $1.83 early Wednesday.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Outperform with an $800 price target (versus a $574.48 prior close) at Credit Suisse. This is actually an update to a pretty recent call talking up Amazon Web Services. Amazon has a consensus analyst target of $746.67 and a 52-week trading range of $287.26 to $696.44.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was started as Outperform with a $149.00 price target (versus a $102.99 close) at Credit Suisse. Celgene was called its best in class for near-term and long-term growth.


Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $48.00 price target (versus a $34.72 close) at FBR Capital Markets. Jefferies maintained its Hold rating and $46.00 price target.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was slashed to $30.00 from $50.00 (versus a $26.46 close after a 6.4% drop) at Piper Jaffray.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse with a $125.00 price target (versus an $89.90 close). The firm stated that Gilead is a real value stock rather than a value trap.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a price target of $53.00 (versus a $40.98 close) at Susquehanna.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the price target was raised to $120.00 from $105.00. JPMorgan maintained its Overweight rating and raised its target to $141.00 from $137.00 in its call. Shares rose 3.7% to $107.89 ahead of earnings and were indicated more or less flat on a down day after earnings.

Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $41.00 price objective (versus a $30.17 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Voya has a consensus target price of $44.97 and a 52-week range of $29.52 to $48.30.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. Wayfair closed at $38.40, has a consensus analyst target of $56.60 and has a 52-week range of $18.12 to $56.84.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Tuesday included the following:
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was started as Outperform with a $154.00 price target (versus a $72.41 close) at Credit Suisse.

Aratana Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PETX) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $12.00 from $18.00.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was started as Outperform with a $110.00 price target (versus a $79.51 close) at Credit Suisse.

Broadsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. While the price target was in overseas coverage, it is effectively calling for more than 30% upside. CNOOC closed at $88.52 in New York, within a 52-week range is $87.60 to $175.60.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was maintained as Hold at Canaccord Genuity, but the price target was cut to $26 from $28.

CSI Compressco L.P. (NASDAQ: CCLP) was started as Neutral with a fair value estimate of $11.00 (versus a $7.14 close) at Janney Capital Markets.


Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) was started as Outperform with a $110.00 price target (versus a $73.31 close) at Credit Suisse.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated as Buy with a $41 price target at Argus. We also showed how analysts elsewhere now view Intel after the big post-earnings drop.

Investment Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: ITG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $15.49 close) at JPMorgan.

Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm cut its price target to $10.00 from $13.00.

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $23.00 from $30.00.

Mesoblast Ltd. (NASDAQ: MESO) was started as Outperform with a $10.00 price target (versus a $5.13 close) at Credit Suisse.

Parker Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $95.00 from $115.00 at Jefferies.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with an $18.00 price target (versus a $16.76 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $71 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Univar Inc. (NYSE: UNVR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

If you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included IBM, Lennar, Regions Financial, Shake Shack, Shopify, TerraForm Power, McDonald’s and over a dozen more.

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