The week of April 8 was quite choppy for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), closing down 1.2% from the prior week at 17,576.96. Earnings season is coming up, with several of the 30 Dow stocks poised to report earnings. Analysts are concerned that this earnings season could be the worst quarterly comparisons since the end of the recession. Goldman Sachs even worries now that good economic news is bad news is for stocks.
24/7 Wall St. is always looking for new investing ideas for its readers. We review dozens of analyst calls each day, which becomes hundreds of analyst calls each week. There are generally many key analyst reports covering the top Dow stocks as well.
We decided to highlight Dow stocks with key analyst changes this week. Some calls were cautious, and some were bullish.
Apple
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw its estimates and target cut at BTIG on April 6, based on longer upgrade cycles and a more conservative outlook. The firm cut 10 million units out of its 2016 and 2017 estimates while leaving its estimate of 50 million iPhones sold in the March quarter. Revenue targets were trimmed for the Apple Watch after recent price cuts, which should not be offset by higher volumes. BTIG did maintain its Buy rating but lowered its target price to $130 from $141 in the call. The report said:
The impact of these changes resulted in a $0.54 cut in our Fiscal 2016 EPS estimate to $8.87 and a $0.53 cut in our Fiscal 2017 EPS estimate to $9.57. Both estimates are now below consensus. We are cutting our price target to $130 from $141 based on 13.5x (was 14.0x) our new Fiscal 2017 EPS estimate, but are maintaining our Buy.
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