24/7 Wall St.

Earnings season is going strong, and many brokerage firm analysts are raising targets and ratings on their favorite stocks. The Thursday morning list of full analyst upgrades and downgrades included about 20 companies, but there were many companies which received multiple analyst upgrades or price target hikes after strong news.

With about 80% of the S&P 500 having reported earnings for the second quarter of 2018, roughly 70% of the companies reporting are beating expectations. In short, there are many reasons that investors are willing to remain positive despite the market being close to all-time highs again.

24/7 Wall St. tracked 10 companies seeing three or more analyst rating upgrades or price target hikes on Thursday, August 9, 2018.

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX) may be far from a household name, but the shares were last seen trading up 17% at $55.95 after it said revenues rose by over 50%. Cowen raised its target price to $59 from $43 and Oppenheimer’s went up to $56 from $48. JPMorgan is still far south of the current price, but it raised its price target to $45 from $36. Raymond James raised its price target for Alteryx to $54 from $38.

Cubic Corp. (NYSE: CUB) has seen almost no gain in its share price on Thursday, but that’s after the post-earnings run took its shares up to about $72 from $67 in a day. Canaccord Genuity raised its price target to $78 from $76, JPMorgan raised its target to $75 from $70, and Raymond James raised its own target to $82 from $70. The stock now has a 52-week trading range of $41.05 to $77.35.

Endo International PLC (NASDAQ: ENDP) was back in positive territory on Thursday, but that’s after a jump to $16.23 from $12.65 from it beat earnings and revenue expectations. JPMorgan raised its target price to $14 from $10. And Leerink was even more aggressive, raising its target price to $18 from $12. Stifel launched its target to $17 from $10, and now the 52-week trading range $5.27 to $17.34,

Equinix Inc. (REIT) (NASDAQ: EQIX) has become a real estate investment trust (REIT) of the cloud, and its shares were last seen trading up 1.4% at $453.50 on Thursday. That’s still more than $40 shy of its 52-week high. Cowen lifted its price target to $504 from $495, and JPMorgan hiked its target even more to $520 from $475. Raymond James also raised its price target on Equinix, from $500 to $525.

Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT) was last seen trading up 4.6% at $84.43 after hitting a 52-week high of $85.50 due to a strong earnings reaction. The biggest target hike seen on Thursday came from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, with a lift to $100 from $75. Compass Point raised its target to $85 from $72, and Guggenheim lifted its target to $88 from $78. Jefferies already had an $89 target on Green Dot, and that was raised to $92 in its call. JPMorgan remains more cautious, but the firm did raise its price target from $69 to $77.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) has come way back from the days when discounting of merchandise at clearance was hurting the company’s image. Its shares hit a 52-week high of $73.17 on Thursday, and the stock was up 3.6% at $72.55 in midday trading. Canaccord Genuity has a Buy rating, and the firm hiked its target all the way up to $90 from $84. Robert W. Baird maintained a Neutral rating on the stock but raised its target price to $75 from $72. Other analyst price target hikes were seen as follows: JPMorgan to $75 from $73, Nomura/Instinet to $85 from $80 and RBC Capital Markets to $74 from $68.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) surprised many investors with earnings as the over-the-top (OTT) service keeps managing to win subscribers. A gain of 21% to $57.25 a share was on almost 30 million shares moved after three hours of trading on Thursday alone, already a four-times volume spike. Macquarie lifted its price target to $57 from $49, and Oppenheimer lifted its target up to $59 from $50.

The laggard call on Roku came from RBC Capital Markets, raising its target to $48 from $45. Citigroup maintained a Neutral rating but lifted its target $50 from $40. KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and lifted its target price to $67 from $54. Roku shares still have a post-IPO high of $58.80.

Sailpoint Technologies Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SAIL) may be another “less than household name” to many investors. The company is into identity governance software solutions on-site and in the cloud for enterprises, and a strong earnings report and strong guidance had shares up 16% at $29.99 in midday trading on Thursday.

Some analysts are still under the current price on Sailpoint, with Canaccord Genuity bumping its target to $25 from $24. Jefferies has a Buy rating and raised its target to $34 from $33, and Oppenheimer’s Outperform rating came with a target hike to $35 from $28. Morgan Stanley’s catch-up call included a target hike to $29 from $26, while Needham’s target went up to $30 from $29.

Wright Medical Group N.V. (NASDAQ: WMGI) was up almost 7% at $28.11 in midday trading on Thursday, still shy of the 52-week high of $29.89. Guggenheim has a Buy rating and raised its target from $32 to $35, while JPMorgan’s Overweight rating came with a price target hike to $34 from $30. The RBC Capital Markets target went up to $32 from $28, along with its Outperform rating, and Wells Fargo lifted its $27 prior target to $29.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was one of the big post-earnings winners, and then some, with its shares up 28% at $49.00 halfway through Thursday. It also was already at 10 times normal trading volume on Thursday. Many analysts were playing catch-up here and the price hikes were above the $44.00 opening price but below the midday trading price.

Barclays lifted its target on Yelp to $48 from $47, and Robert W. Baird boosted its target to $45 from $44, while Stifel raised its target to $42 from $40. These analysts have lifted their targets above the current price: Jefferies to $55 from $53, JPMorgan to $57 from $53 and RBC Capital Markets to $53 from $52.

As a reminder, analyst ratings and price targets can change without notice, and it is possible that some targets have already changed or have been adjusted.