Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Alcoa, AT&T, Darden, Micron, New Age Beverages, Nike, Novavax, Pier 1, Under Armour and More

Investing

Published: September 21, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 5:33 pm

Stocks were indicated marginally higher on Friday, but this as after the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 hit all-time high closes on Thursday. International markets were also higher on Friday, but many international and emerging markets are still very far away from their all-time highs. As many investors have seen lower upside from buying on market pullbacks than in prior years, they have to consider how they want to have their investments positioned for the rest of 2018 and as 2019 approaches.

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 cover stocks to buy, but 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 are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, September 21, 2018.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and the price target was raised to $25 from $16 at Piper Jaffray.

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $187 from $140 at Wells Fargo.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) has seen multiple price target hikes in recent days, and now Jefferies has raised its target to $36 from $30 with a reiterated Buy rating. The firm sees supply constraints at Intel helping AMD grow its revenue and market share in some markets. AMD was indicated up 0.5% at $31.34, and the 52-week trading range is $9.04 to $34.14.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) was started as Buy and assigned a $54 price target (versus a $42.93 prior close) at Berenberg.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $38 from $33 at UBS. The firm sees incredibly low valuations and an expected return to earnings growth in the years ahead.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Copart Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRT) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the target price was just cut to $47 from $48 at JPMorgan.

CRISPR Therapeutics A.G. (NASDAQ: CRSP) was started with an Underperform rating at Raymond James.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was down 1.2% at $116.45 ahead of beating earnings. It has seen several target price hikes: Canaccord Genuity to $125 from $120, Mizuho to $125 from $115 and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey to $137 from $117.

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $20.80 from $18.80 at HSBC.

Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $100 from $91 (versus an $88.32 close) at UBS.

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was started with an Outperform rating and the price target was set at $40 (versus a $32.57 close) at Raymond James.

Forescout Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $47 target price (versus a $39.47 close) at Needham.

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $8.25 price target (versus a $5.20 close) at Loop Capital.

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IPG Photonics Corp. (NASDAQ: IPGP) was raised to Strong Buy from Market Perform at Raymond James. The stock was up 1.2% at $162.56 on Thursday and was indicated up 3.2% at $167.75 on Friday.

Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim.

Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was up 2.2% at $46.06 ahead of earnings and initially traded higher, but shares were down 4.4% at $44.10 on Friday’s early indications. Morgan Stanley maintained its Equal Weight rating but cut the target to $48 from $65. Stifel maintained its Buy rating but lowered its price target to $103 from $108. Nomura/Instinet lowered its target to $65 from $100, and Needham lowered its target to $80 from $100.

NetEase Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. Shares were up 4.1% at $213.19 on Thursday and up 3.2% at $220.00 on Friday.

New Age Beverages Corp. (NASDAQ: NBEV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Maxim Group. This call is a day after shares rose 79% to $7.85 ahead of presenting CBD products at an upcoming convention, but the shares were up another 18% at $9.30 ahead of Friday’s open.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $100 from $85 at Barclays. Nike closed up 1.1% at $85.37 on Thursday and was indicated up 0.7% at $85.95 on Friday.

Nightstar Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: NITE) was reiterated as Buy with a $34 price target (versus a $27.78 close) at Wedbush Securities, but this is a stance ahead of a presentation this weekend on the initial XLRP data, with a stance that it should be overall positive and could guide a pivotal design.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was raised to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan. It was up 2.8% at $1.47 on Thursday and was indicated up 11% at $1.64 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $0.96 to $2.75.

Penske Auto Group Inc. (NYSE: PAG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

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Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) was up 3.4% at $1.81 on Thursday but was indicated down 17% at $1.50 on Friday after reporting its preliminary financial results. UBS maintained it as Sell and cut the price target to $1 from $2. Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating on Pier 1 but cut its target to $1.80 from $3.10.

Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was reiterated as Outperform along with a $136 price target (versus a $103.63 close) at Wedbush. The call is after recent price weakness, and the firm sees the situation as normal rather than pressured.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ROP) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and the target price was raised to $20 from $16 at JPMorgan. Shares closed up 5% at $18.15 on Thursday after it announced 3% layoffs, and the stock was indicated up 1.4% at $18.40 on Friday.

Venator Materials PLC (NYSE: VNTR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

Thursday’s top analyst calls were in AMD, Caterpillar, NRG Energy, Nvidia, Procter & Gamble, Square, Red Hat, Transocean, Viacom, Wisdom Tree and about 20 more.