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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AIG, Expedia, FireEye, Nvidia, 3D Systems, Teva, Twitter, Disney, Wayfair, Wynn and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: February 9, 2018 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 3:34 am

Investors have been handed a solid reminder that the bull market can still have a correction. Shares are down 10% off the highs, but it had been two years since there was even a 5% correction, and some of the international markets are performing even worse. While no strategy can be counted on forever, this nine-year bull market has a five-year winning track record of investors buying the pullbacks.

Investors also are still looking at how they should position their portfolios for 2018 and beyond. The market is facing higher wages and higher inflation concerns, while it also expects rising interest rates, a further boost from tax reform, accelerated corporate earnings and stronger growth of gross domestic product. The sell-off has so far not changed expectations for those fundamentals.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports and research reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Friday, February 9, 2018.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was down 3.6% at $58.28 on Thursday, but the stock was indicated up 1.6% at $59.40 on Friday. AIG was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $70 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The firm noted AIG’s encouraging earnings results and the pullback in the shares as the reason for the upgrade.

Control4 Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $36 price target (versus a $25.20 prior close) at Maxim Group.

California Resources Corp. (NYSE: CRC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $25 price target at Soc-Gen. Shares closed down 6.9% at $17.91 on Thursday and were indicated up at $18.25 on Friday morning.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) has held its Investor Day, and its shares were up 0.5% at $59.16 on Thursday when the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1,000 points. Credit Suisse reiterated Dunkin’ Brands as Outperform, noting that its post-event review shows that shares could perk up and that it feels defensive considering an asset-light model. Wedbush Securities maintained its Neutral rating and $60 target.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was down almost 5% at $123.03 on Thursday and was indicated down over 16% at $102.75 on Friday after earnings contained a disappointing 2018 outlook. Needham downgraded Expedia to Hold from Buy. Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating but cut its target to $130 from $150. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but cut its target price to $132 from $151. Citigroup maintained its Buy rating and cut its target from $170 to $140.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was down 0.3% at $14.12 ahead of earnings on Thursday, but the shares were last seen up 13% at almost $16 after earnings. The stock was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $20 price target at Susquehanna. Wedbush maintained its Neutral rating and $15 price target.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was reiterated as Buy with a target price of $80 (versus a $67.00 close) at Argus.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) was down 3.6% at $79.90, but this was a $90 stock earlier in the week, before its outlook disappointed investors. Argus maintained its Buy rating and has a $106 price target. The research firm sees opportunities for margin improvement as Microchip continues to build scale and strengthen its nontechnology customer base.

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Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) was started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was down 4.9% at $217.52 on Thursday ahead of earnings, but the stock was last seen up over 8% at $236.00 Friday morning after earnings. Mizuho reiterated Nvidia as Buy and raised the price target to $265 from $240. The 52-week trading range is $95.17 to $249.27.

OncoSec Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCS) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $4 price target (versus a $1.64 close) at Piper Jaffray. OncoSec has a mere $70 million market cap, and it has a 52-week range of $0.88 to $2.95.

PennantPark Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: PNNT) was up 1.8% at $6.77 on Thursday after strong earnings despite the big market drop, and its stock was indicated up another 3% at $7.00 on Friday. The stock was raised to Buy from Neutral with an $8 price target at Ladenburg Thalmann.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was down 4.8% at $9.82 on Thursday and was indicated down another 1.7% at $9.65 on Friday after JPMorgan downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral with an $11 price target. The 52-week range is $7.92 to $23.70.

Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) was maintained as Market Perform but the price target was raised to $42 from $40 at BMO Capital Markets. Shares were down 7% at $37.30.

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with an $18 price target at RBC Capital Markets. Piper Jaffray downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral with an $11 price target.

Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $66 price target (versus a $54.62 close) at Bernstein.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was up 12% at $30.18 early Friday on a whopping 162 million shares after beating earnings, despite a 1,000-point drop on the Dow. Argus reiterated Twitter as Buy and raised the price target to $40 from $30. Merrill Lynch still has an Underperform rating but raised its price objective from $20 to $26.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus, and the firm assigned a $150 target price. Argus talked up United Technology’s leading position in several global industries, long-term population growth and the expansion of the middle class in developing markets.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated as Buy with a $129 price target at Argus. The firm raised Disney’s 2018 EPS estimate to $7.03 from $6.13 and raised its 2019 EPS forecast to $7.88 from $6.53. Argus also pointed out that Disney’s tax rates have fallen dramatically as a result of the new tax law.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $105 from $88 at Oppenheimer. Wayfair closed down 2.3% at $88.98 on Thursday.

Web.com Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WEB) was down 2% at $21.60 on Thursday, but its shares were last seen down 12% at $19.00 on Friday on its earnings reaction. The stock was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $21 price target at B. Riley. It has a 52-week range of $17.25 to $25.95.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $193 price target (versus a $169.28 close) at Morgan Stanley.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, General Electric, Gilead Sciences, Humana, Oasis Petroleum, Sprint, Wynn, Yelp, Zynga and many more.