Monday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Apple, Amex, Brinker, Caterpillar, Chipotle, Dell, Halliburton, Palo Alto, Starbucks, Texas Instruments, Travelers and More

Investing

Published: April 13, 2020 9:04 am

Last Updated: April 13, 2020 9:14 am

Stocks were indicated to open down slightly on Monday after finishing off the best gains for a week since the Great Depression. The stock market now has magically recovered over half of the losses from the February peak. Earnings season is about to start, with expectations looking grim and with little to no expectations that companies can offer guidance. Many investors have been seeking new ideas, or any ideas, about how to be best positioned for the rest of 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to look for new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Many upgrades, downgrades, reiterations and initiations take place regardless of the daily market volatility. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Many analysts have lowered their target prices in recent weeks. That is true even in many analyst upgrades are coming with lower price targets. Yet, there are still many traditional analyst upgrades and reiterations, as if things were still close to normal. Remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

Consensus analyst target prices are from Refinitiv. These are the top analyst calls tracked for Monday, April 13, 2020.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $255 from $248 (versus a $196.37 prior close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Allogene Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALLO) was started as Buy and a $29 price target (versus a $22.69 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Shares closed up 8.8% ahead of the call, and the consensus price target was $34.92.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Outperform but its price target was cut to $305 from $360 (versus a $267.99 close) at Raymond James. Apple had a prior consensus price target of $307.26 ahead of the call.

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI, but the firm did trim its price target to $119 from $122. Shares closed up over 3% at $100.34 ahead of this call and have a $117.47 consensus target price.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was maintained as Hold but its price target was lowered to $112 from $142 (versus a $94.82 close) at Deutsche Bank. Amex previously had a $108.83 consensus price target.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that though it was recently a category-killer, this company’s revenues and earnings are suddenly far from predictable. Shares last closed at $1,420.64, with a consensus price target of $1,719.82.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was maintained as Hold but its price target was slashed to $21 from $44 at Deutsche Bank. The stock closed up over 17% at $17.29 last Thursday, and while that is up from a low of $7.00, it is still down from a 52-week high of $47.57.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was maintained as Hold but its price target was lowered to $86 from $110 (versus a $60.11 close) at Deutsche Bank. It previously had an $87.50 consensus price target.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities, which noted a severe capital spending downturn in key markets for the heavy equipment maker.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was maintained as Outperform and its price target was lowered to $860 from $980 (versus a $771.00 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that growth in digital/delivery is only somewhat of an offset to near-term COVID-19 headwinds as it lowered same-store sales and unit growth assumptions.