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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Anadarko, Apple, Charter Communications, FireEye, First Solar, Frontier Communications and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: May 3, 2017 9:15 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 12:23 pm

Stocks were indicated marginally lower on Wednesday, after a slight disappointment from Apple earnings and ahead of the expected status quo rate decision from the Federal Reserve later in the day. The bull market is now more than eight years old and investors have bought every single market sell-off for more than five years now. Those same investors are also still looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new investing ideas and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls on Wednesday, May 3, 2017.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was last indicated down 6.2% at $52.80 as more news of the home blast that killed two people was from a gas line connected to an Anadarko well in that area. Anadarko was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo, and Macquarie cut it to Neutral from Outperform.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was last seen trading down after revenues were lighter than hoped for. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating, noting that the iPhone super-cycle is ahead. Maxim reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $171 from $163. After a look at a full Apple analyst montage of higher targets, it seems the analyst calls were generally more positive than the share price reaction.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) was down 1.9% at $337.69 on Tuesday and was indicated down another 0.8% at $335.00 on Wednesday. Charter was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Wells Fargo. Telsey Advisory has a Market Perform rating and lowered its target to $340 from $345.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was down 2.1% at $12.21 ahead of earnings, but was up 14.5% at $13.95 afterward. FireEye was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.

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First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was up 2.6% at $30.32 ahead of earnings and up 7.7% at $32.63 afterward, despite drastically lower earnings expectations in 2017 versus 2016. First Solar had been getting raised ahead of the report, and it was now raised to Hold from Sell at Axiom Capital.

Frontier Communications Corp. (NYSE: FTR) was down after finally admitting that it needed to slash that high dividend. Frontier was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. Frontier was actually raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup, while it was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Cowen. Jefferies maintained a Buy rating but slashed the target to $2.00 from $3.50. Frontier Communications was up 4.3% at $1.93 on Tuesday and was trading down 9.3% at $1.75 on Wednesday under its 52-week and decade low of $1.81.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. The firm’s new price target is $153, versus a $141.23 prior closing price.

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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was last indicated down almost 13% at $54.40 on Wednesday after guidance sent shares lower. Akamai was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Wells Fargo, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey lowered its rating to Hold from Buy.

Bob Evans Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: BOBE) was started as Outperform at William Blair.

C&J Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: CJ) was started as Buy with a $43 price target at Deutsche Bank.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA) was started as Neutral with a $10 price target (versus $10.10 close, after a 6.2% drop) at Susquehanna.

EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETRM) was indicated up 9% at $4.55 on Wednesday after it was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $11 price target at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform by CIBC.

Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was reiterated as Underperform and the price target was cut to $19 from $20 at Credit Suisse.

Potbelly Corp. (NASDAQ: PBPB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.

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Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) was up 7.4% at $82.98 on Tuesday and was down 1.6% at $81.65 on Wednesday. Shopify was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. Shopify was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $90 from $70 at Credit Suisse.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) shares were down handily after warning about revenues for the year, with Uber being blamed as being 12% of its revenue. Twilio was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest.

United Stated Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was maintained as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm slashed its target to $29 from $50 after admitting it was wrong. Jefferies said that it underestimated elevated risks inherent with its revitalization efforts as well as cost headwinds.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was reiterated as Outperform and the target was raised to $136 from $127 (versus a $119.32 prior close) at Credit Suisse.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Adobe Systems, Advanced Micro Devices, Angie’s List, Enbridge, Noble Energy and many more.