Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher after a weaker producer price index report calmed some inflation fears. Earnings season has been quite strong, with more than 70% of the companies exceeding expectations and 80% of the S&P 500 having reported, and the S&P 500 is quite close to all-time highs again. Still, the volatility in 2018 has created less rewarding trades by buying the dips, which had been so reliable in prior years. Many investors are also trying to decide how they want their investments positioned ahead of the midterm elections and with international trade concerns.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week 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 Thursday, August 9, 2018.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was down 1.2% at $14.02 on Wednesday and indicated down 8% at $12.85 on Thursday after reporting a loss. JMP Securities maintained its Outperform rating but slashed its price target to $27 from $50. Stifel maintained its Hold rating but lowered its target to $14 from $17.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the target price was cut to $54 from $58 at Morgan Stanley.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $13 price target at Wells Fargo. Its shares were indicated up 2.7% at $10.20 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $9.90 to $22.20, after shares fell 22.2% to $9.95 on Wednesday after reporting a wider loss than expected.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE: EPC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Societe Generale. The stock closed up almost 5% at $56.77 on Wednesday, and it has a 52-week trading range of $39.50 to $76.76.

elf Beauty Inc. (NYSE: ELF) was up 3.2% at $14.91 on Wednesday but was last seen down over 18% at $12.10 after what looked to be a solid earnings report but that also contained a revenue warnings. D.A. Davidson downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and cut the price target to $12 from 23. Citigroup also downgraded elf Beauty to Neutral and cut its target to $16 from $24, while Stifel maintained its Hold rating but cut its target to $11 from $17. Piper Jaffray downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral, and Jefferies downgraded it to Hold from Buy.

Extreme Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR) was down 32% at $6.09 on Wednesday after revenues were weaker than expected. JMP Securities maintained its Market Perform rating and lowered its price target to $9 from $12.

Investment Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: ITG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the target price was raised to $25 from $24 (versus a $20.67 prior close, after a 5% drop) at JPMorgan.

Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. Mylan closed up 1.8% at $39.23 on Wednesday but was down marginally early Thursday.

Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

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