Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Apple, AT&T, Baidu, Chevron, Cisco, Expedia, Goldman Sachs, Kroger, Micron, Nike, P&G, Square, Walmart and More

Investing

Published: March 26, 2020 9:18 am

Last Updated: March 26, 2020 9:28 am

Stocks managed to trade up handily for two days in a relief rally after having seen all three major indexes fall over 30% from their peaks in February. Now the markets have to digest the worst number of weekly jobless claims (almost 3.3 million) in history.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy and other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Analysts have been handily knocking down their target prices to deal with a new recessionary environment, but we are still seeing many traditional upgrades and reiterations as if things haven’t really been turned upside-down.

Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv. Remember: no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

These are the top analyst calls tracked for Thursday, March 26, 2020.

AECOM (NYSE: ACM) was maintained as Overweight and the target price was cut to $35 from $56 (versus a $27.06 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Alcon A.G. (NYSE: ALC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $55 target price (versus a $47.59 close) at Argus.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was maintained as Overweight but its target price was lowered to $248 from $260 (versus a $188.56 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock is down from a high of $231.14.

AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (NYSE: AMN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its target price was cut to $64 (versus a $50.16 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Outperform with a recently lowered target price of $335 at Wedbush Securities, but the firm is questioning when the 5G iPhone can reasonably be released with Apple’s supply chain woes and with the coronavirus. The firm did note that even if the 5G supercycle is delayed by months, it does not change the long-term bullish view of Apple.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $56 from $47 (versus a $41.50 close) at BofA Securities.

AT&T Inc. ( NYSE: T) was reiterated as Buy at Argus, but the firm did cut its target price (versus a $28.40 close) in the wake of it halting the buyback and having exposure to economic weakness around the coronavirus.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was maintained as Overweight but its target price was lowered to $140 from $156 at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was maintained as Buy at Argus, but the firm did slash its target price to $88 from $150. Chevron recently closed at $69.27 a share, and that is after its capital spending cuts and dividend commitment allowed shares to recover. The firm sees it as having a rock-solid balance sheet in a challenging market.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was reiterated as Buy with a $65 target price (versus a $37.67 close) at Argus, with the firm showing that its WebEx traffic has soared.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the novel coronavirus is forcing people to clean up their act. Shares most recently closed at $165.66, with a consensus price target of $168.08.

CrowdStrike Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was reiterated as Neutral at Credit Suisse despite overall positive commentary in the report.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this restaurant operator is in the direct line of fire from this pandemic. Shares last closed at $58.45 and have a consensus price target of $72.00.