Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Alcoa, Biomarin, Coca-Cola, Ford, GM, Intel, Kinder Morgan, Micron, Nvidia, Tesla, Twitter, Zillow and More

Investing

Published: March 24, 2020 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 24, 2020 9:29 am

Equity futures had been down again on Monday, but futures were locked limit up for part of Tuesday morning on optimism that a coronavirus stimulus and rescue package was closer to being done. Many Wall Street analyst calls included substantial downgrades or target price cuts in reaction to massive share price drops that have been seen in the past month.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning of the week to find new ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks that firms want their clients to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid. Investors should never use any individual analyst report as a sole reason to buy or sell a stock, and analyst reports should only be one small portion of evaluating companies.

These are the top analyst calls for Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was maintained as Outperform with a $57 target price (versus a $41.64 prior close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities.

AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this stock has tons of opportunity. Shares most recently closed at $51.90 and have a consensus price target of $68.60.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target was slashed to $7 from $21 (versus a $5.67 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was maintained as Buy but its target price was cut to $58 from $76 (versus a $40.17 close) at Citigroup. Deutsche Bank maintained its Buy rating but lowered its target price to $65 from $75.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Bright Horizon Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BFAM) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that quarantine has removed a lot of value from the daycare business, but it is worth another look. Shares last closed at $85.49, with a consensus price target of $112.00.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was maintained as Outperform with a $164 target price (versus a $71.37 close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush.

Blueprint Medicines Corp. (NASDAQ: BPMC) was reiterated as Outperform with a $122 target price (versus a $51.32 close) and was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush.

Century Aluminum Co, (NASDAQ: CENX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was cut to $5 from $11 (versus a $3.17 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $45 target price at HSBC. Shares closed down 1.9% at $37.56 ahead of the call and have a $58.18 consensus target price.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its target price was lowered to $145 from $170 (versus $113.69 prior close) at Wedbush.

FirstCash Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral but its target price was cut to $78 from $95 (versus a $63.27 close) at Wedbush.

First Foundation Inc. (NASDAQ: FFWM) was started with an Outperform rating and a $13 target price (versus an $8.52 close) at Wedbush, with the firm noting that the defensive positioning of its loan portfolio with significant exposure to multifamily (47% of loans) and residential mortgage (19%) should enable credit quality to hold up better than peer average in the upcoming recession.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $19 from $16 at B. Riley FBR.