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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Applied Materials, BioCryst, Costco, Generac, Goodyear, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix and More

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Stocks were marginally lower on Tuesday after investors took a bite out of the FANG stocks. Investors have had less faith and lower rewards by buying the dips in 2018 than in prior years. Many of those investors also have been concerned about how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections, into international trade concerns and also for the longer term.

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

Additional commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports, along with trading history. 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 Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $65 from $75 (versus a $46.31 prior close) at Evercore ISI.

Arrow Electronics Inc. (NYSE: ARW) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $90 price target (versus a $77.05 close) at Wells Fargo.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch. BioCryst was indicated up 3.2% at $6.40, in a 52-week range of $3.95 to $6.67.

Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $27 from $30 (versus a $17.95 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $131 price target (versus a $117.66 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $225 from $205 (versus a $214.85 close) at Raymond James.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. It closed down 1.2% at $52.38 on Monday, and the shares were indicated down 3.2% at $50.70 on Tuesday.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $327 from $272 (versus a $301.99 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Innovative BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: INNT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $35 price target (versus an $8.08 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI, with the firm noting that competition is tough and that Intel has delays for its 10-nanometer transition on the heels of CEO Brian Krzanich being ousted.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $120 from $125 (versus a $104.16 close) at Evercore ISI.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $240 from $300 (versus a $171.79 close) at Evercore ISI.

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Manitowoc Co. Inc. (NYSE: MTW) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $123 from $115 at Piper Jaffray. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $124 from $110.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was down over 12% at $349.50 after guidance and subscriber growth disappointed with earnings. Cowen maintained its Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $400 from $430. Macquarie maintained its Outperform rating but cut the target to $388 from $430. Deutsche Bank downgraded Netflix to Hold from Buy. BMO Capital Markets raised it to Outperform from Market Perform, but just with a $400 price target. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its target to $470 from $500.

Nomad Foods Ltd. (NYSE: NOMD) was started as Outperform and assigned a $24 target price (versus an $18.39 close) at Credit Suisse.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) was maintained as Overweight but the price target was trimmed to $102 from $111 at Morgan Stanley.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was reiterated as Overweight but the price target was raised to $455 from $425 (versus a $416.85 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney.

Monday’s top analyst calls included American Tower, Darden Restaurants, FedEx, Hasbro, Parker-Hannifin, Wells Fargo and many more.

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