Investing

11 Key Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Too Big to Ignore

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The stock market was trading handily lower after a mixed but positive strong Employment Situation report from the U.S. Department of Labor. It turns out that many stocks were having big moves up or down based on earnings or other key news releases.

24/7 Wall St. covers the top analyst upgrades and downgrades each morning of the week, but there are always some calls that stand out as just too big to ignore. These are considered analyst clusters, where many analysts are chiming in. Friday showed an additional 11 top analyst upgrade and downgrade clusters that needed to be addressed.

Our top analyst upgrades and downgrades from earlier included Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, LinkedIn, Linn Energy, Tableau Software, Weatherford International and over a dozen more companies. These are the clustered analyst calls from Friday morning that were just too big to ignore.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) beat earnings but narrowed its guidance earlier this week. As a result, shares fell from $87.99 to $84.40 on the news, but the stock was last seen up 1.3% at $85.54 on Friday morning. Several analyst calls have been seen here. Cowen has a Market Perform rating and cut the target to $95. Barclays has an Equal Weight rating and cut the target to $90. R.W. Baird has a Neutral rating and cut its target to $99. Target cuts were seen at RBC and Deutsche Bank as well.


ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was the big oil patch let down this week. Coming clean about the dividend and with a loss and lower capex took shares from $38.63 before the report to $35.32 afterward. Its shares were down another 4% or so at $33.85 on Friday morning after several analysts weighed in. Credit Suisse lowered its target to $41, Jefferies lowered its target to $37 and Goldman Sachs lowered its target to $38. RBC kept an Outperform rating but lowered its target to $50 from $61. The big defending call was from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, maintaining a Buy rating and only lowering its price objective to $70 from $73.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was down only 2.8% after what looked like a really bad earnings report, despite posting some growth. Shares were last seen down only 2.6% at $47.52, far better than the initial reaction Thursday night. Brean lowered its price target to $55. Canaccord Genuity lowered its price target to $67, Credit Suisse lowered its price target to $57 from $78, Goldman Sachs lowered its price target to $65. Jefferies lowered its price target to $75, and Susquehanna lowered its price target to $70.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) posted gains but its earnings report was considered a miss with weak guidance. Its shares were last seen down 11.5% at $26.01, but shares hit a new 52-week low of $24.99. We have seen a slew of analysts weigh in on Hanesbrands: Brean (Buy) cut its target to $33; Cowen (Outperform) cut its target to $34; Credit Suisse (Outperform) cut its target to $36; and Goldman Sachs (Buy) cut its target to $37.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) saw its shares get slaughtered after earnings on Thursday, falling to $41.52 from $51.13 on the news. The recovery was up over 2% at $42.60 on Friday morning. The firm Atlantic Equities downgraded its rating to Underweight. Price target cuts were seen from Nomura to $52, to $40 at Goldman Sachs and to $45 at JPMorgan.
Linkedin Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) was the biggest analyst cluster on Friday. With its shares hitting a new 52-week low and with the stock down 40% at $115.00 after 30 minutes of trading, what more could you expect? Formal downgrades in LinkedIn were seen from BMO Capital Markets to Market Perform; RBC Capital Markets and Cowen to Market Perform; and JPMorgan and Mizuho to Neutral. Price target cuts were almost unilateral: Barclays, Canaccord Genuity, Credit Suisse, FBR, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Nomura, Pac-Crest, Piper Jaffray, Raymond James and more. The analyst target cuts was too numerous to list them all. The consensus analyst target was $277.40 prior to the earnings report, and that will be far lower (maybe down to $200 or less) next week when the targets all adjust.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) had a solid earnings report that beat estimates and was guiding in line ahead rather than cutting guidance. Its sales could rise 55% after the Freescale inclusion here. Jefferies kept its Buy rating and raised its target price to $112 from $107. JPMorgan has only a Neutral rating, but raised its target price to $97 from $95. Morgan Stanley kept its Overweight rating, but trimmed its target to $100 from $105. NXP shares had been flat earlier in the day, but the stock was down 3.7% at $73.51 on Friday morning.

Outerwall Inc. (NASDAQ: OUTR) was down 20% at $26.22 after earnings and hit a new 52-week low of $24.94. This is the company you know for Redbox, and its revenues are in decline as fewer DVDs get used and as their boxes are more frequently not by a store entrance. JPMorgan already had an Underweight rating and cut its price target to $29 from $48. Roth Capital cut the rating to Sell, and Piper Jaffray cut its rating to Neutral. Wedbush Securities also lowered its target to $40.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) had a disappointing holiday season selling period, and now the CEO is conducting a review of its operations. Maybe it was lucky to see shares down less than 1% at $89.33, but the stock did hit a new 52-week low of $87.01 on Friday morning. Barclays kept its Equal Weight rating in Ralph Lauren but cut its price target to $95 from $110. Credit Suisse downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform and cut its price target to $98 from $115.

Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) was one of the big earnings losers after posting a loss and lower guidance for 2016. Its shares were last seen down 21.6% at $11.52, after hitting a new 52-week low of $10.81. Sierra Wireless saw numerous price target cuts: BMO Capital Markets down to $13, Raymond James down to $15 and Jefferies down to $12. Pac-Crest also lowered its target.


Tableau Software Inc. (NYSE: DATA) saw its earnings report turn into an unexpected loss, and the company posted lower-than-expected license revenues. Shares were down a whopping 45% at $344.56 on Friday, with about 12 million shares trading by late morning (more than 10-times normal volume). Its list of target cuts was massive: Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Pac-Crest, RBC Capital Markets, R.W. Baird, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and more. The prior 52-week range was $71.61 to $131.34.

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