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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Beyond Meat, BioNTech, Comcast, DraftKings, Expedia, Gap, Gilead, Hess, Lululemon, Newmont, Royal Gold and More
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The major indexes were taking a breather on Tuesday morning. Investors are looking for new ideas now that so many stocks and sectors have come screaming back from March’s lows. Amazingly, analyst ratings changes are still being seen with normal upgrades and downgrades now that the market has stabilized so much since just over six weeks ago.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new trading ideas for investors and traders. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while some analyst calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. As noted above, ratings and or price targets are rapidly chasing down the earnings and revenue estimates.
As a reminder, no single analyst call should be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Tuesday, May 19, 2020.
Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that growth estimates have plummeted 30% but investors are finding value in shares near $200. The stock last closed at $229.42 and has a consensus price target of $242.86.
Arbutus Biopharma Corp. (NASDAQ: ABUS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $4 from $2 (versus a $1.87 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The upgrade follows positive 12-Week 60 mg single dosage data for AB-729 in chronic HBV patients.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $210 from $200 (versus a $190.10 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was started with a Buy rating and a $173 price target (versus a $130.03 close) at BTIG.
BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $69 from $48 (versus a $60.17 close) at H.C. Wainwright.
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim, which noted exposure to theme park revenues, movie production and advertising all being very low at the present time and likely over the historically busy months.
Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was reiterated as Underweight but its price target was raised to $8.00 from $5.50 (versus a $14.68 close, after a 14% gain) at Morgan Stanley.
Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CURLF) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $10 from $6 (versus a $6.58 close, after an 11.4% gain) at Needham.
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was started with a Neutral rating and a $32 price target (versus a $29.55 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target was lowered to $85 from $100 (versus a $79.19 close, after an 18.6% gain) at Jefferies. Its consensus price target was $100.25.
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was maintained as Neutral and its price target was cut to $8 from $10 (versus a $7.82 close) at B. Riley FBR.
General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) was started with a Buy rating and a $188 price target (versus a $139.48 close) at Seaport Global.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) was reiterated as Sell with a $70 price target (versus a $74.76 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The firm noted that it is reasonable there could be commercial revenues from remdesivir in the third and fourth quarters, but it is not set in stone under a post-donation model.
Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $36 price target (versus a $29.13 close) at Bernstein.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $49 from $48 (versus a $49.11 close) at Morgan Stanley.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $315 from $285 (versus a $290.37 close) at KeyBanc Capital markets.
JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $64 from $54 (versus a $55.53 close, after a 9.2% gain) at Nomura/Instinet.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) was started with a Buy rating and a $435 price target (versus a $377.54 close) at Seaport Global.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $290 from $256 (versus a $255.65 close) at B. Riley FBR.
Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was started with an Outperform rating and a $290 price target (versus $259.81 prior close) at Oppenheimer.
Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $97 from $96 (versus a $66.26 close) at B. Riley FBR.
Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $151 from $150 (versus a $134.28 close) at B. Riley FBR.
Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $40 from $38 (versus a $35.63 close) at UBS.
S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) was started with an Outperform rating and a $340 price target (versus a $311.63 close) at Oppenheimer.
TherapeuticsMD Inc. (NASDAQ: TXMD) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
24/7 Wall St.Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that while COVID-19 interrupts clinical trials, the champ of cystic fibrosis is about to repeat another year of 37% revenue growth. Shares most recently closed at $284.13, with a consensus price target of $283.91.
While oil has had a huge bounce off the April lows, many of the top companies in the sector have not. Four top energy stocks to buy that pay dividends make good sense to BofA Securities analysts for investors looking to add positions in a down and out sector.
Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Best Buy, Cinemark, Co-Diagnostics, DraftKings, Energizer, Novavax, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks and Petrobras.
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