Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Apple, Biomarin, Corning, EA, FireEye, Grubhub, Nordstrom, NXP, Shopify, Xerox and More

October 30, 2019 by Jon C. Ogg

Stocks managed to close marginally lower on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC announcement, and the CME FedWatch Tool’s 94.1% probability for a rate cut at the start of the week was up to 97.3% on last look. Stocks were indicated to open up less than 0.1% on Wednesday and the direction of the day felt far from certain. The S&P 500 has just hit an all-time high this week, and earnings season is so far making all those imminent recession calls by the media look a bit ridiculous. Still, investors have a lot of negative issues to consider, and the bull market is now well over 10 years old. This is a time for investors to consider changes they should be making for their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Wednesday, October 30, 2019.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) closed down almost 2% at $33.03 on Tuesday and was indicated down almost 1% more at $32.75 in the wake of its earnings report. Wedbush Securities reiterated AMD as Outperform with a $39 target, noting that it had strong results and better than expected EPYC sales. UBS maintained its Neutral rating but raised its target price to $34 from $31.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and the target price was lowered to $6 from $9 at Piper Jaffray. Shares closed at $13.33 on Tuesday, but they were indicated down about 24% at $10.15, after notice of an FDA advisory committee meeting. The prior consensus target price was $11.88.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) down 3.9% at $44.96 on Tuesday and was indicated down another 1.5% at $44.30 on Wednesday. Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Neutral from Buy.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $120 target price (versus a $108.06 prior close) at Raymond James.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform with the same $265 price target at Wedbush, but that target was raised recently. The firm’s note sees Apple reaching the 100 million subscriber number over three to four years and it could translate into a $7 billion to $10 billion annual revenue stream over time that also further cements its install base and halo effect that could add in another $15 per share to the sum-of-the-parts valuation.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was maintained as Buy but the target price was lowered to $95 from $120 at Citigroup.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL) was named as the Zacks Bull of the Day as its shares have crushed the discount retail industry in recent years and it is looking for a solid holiday season.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was the Bear of the Day at Zacks, as its shares have been rather volatile over the past year amid the U.S.-China trade war and growing economic concerns.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $34 from $32 (versus a $30.26 close) at Citigroup. Deutsche Bank downgraded it to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $30 from $33.

Crane Co. (NYSE: CR) traded down 8% at $77.50 on earnings, compared with a $102.29 prior consensus target price. Canaccord Genuity downgraded it to Hold from Buy and cut the target price to $85 from $105.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was down 2.4% at $94.41 ahead of earnings and indicated down another 0.7% at $93.75 on Wednesday morning after its revenues beat guidance and were modestly above expectations. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating with a $118 target price, while UBS maintained its Buy rating but trimmed its target price to $117 from $120.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $31 from $33 (versus a $26.83 close) at Citigroup.