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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Albertsons, Alphabet, Carnival, Coeur, Devon, Disney, Halliburton, Skyworks, Tesla, Zendesk and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: July 21, 2020 9:05 am

Last Updated: August 11, 2021 11:11 am

Stocks closed higher on Monday and were indicated to open even higher on Tuesday as earnings season ramps up. This is the week that the earnings floodgates open wide, so many analysts will be making tweaks ahead of reports and will be making slews of upgrades and downgrades afterward. With an election coming up and with what is still a very deep recession, investors need to be considering how they want their assets positioned for the second half of 2020 and as 2021 comes into focus.

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

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 we have seen on Tuesday, July 21, 2020.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was down 11% at $49.25 on Tuesday morning and was among the top after-hours movers on Monday. RBC Capital Markets reiterated it as Outperform but lowered its price target to $55 from $61 (versus a $55.42 prior close).

Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI) has seen its quiet period come to an end and many firms have issued their initial ratings and price targets. Wells Fargo was at Overweight with an $18 target, and BMO at Outperform with a $18 target. JPMorgan is at Overweight with a $19 target, while Guggenheim issued Buy rating and $20 target. BofA Securities, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were all at Buy with a $22 target. Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and an $18 target.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $1,750 from $1,650 at Mizuho. Alphabet closed up 3.1% at $1,563.84 and had a $1,583.77 consensus target price.

AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (NYSE: AMN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $62 from $52 (versus a $47.92 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: AVDL) was started with an Outperform rating and a $17 target price (versus an $8.15 close) at SVB Leerink.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC. Shares closed down 3% at $15.00 on Monday but were indicated up over 2% at $15.30 on Tuesday morning. The consensus target price was $15.06.

Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE: CDE) was raised to Buy from Hold and assigned an $8 target price (versus a $6.87 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its target price was raised to $15 from $10 at Piper Sandler. It closed at $10.27 and had a $15.79 consensus target price.

Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK) was started with a Buy rating and a $4.75 price target at B. Riley FBR. Its shares closed up over 14% at $3.30 on Monday and were indicated up over 8% at $3.57 on Tuesday.

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and its target was raised to $81 from $776 (versus an $86.61 close) at Credit Suisse. It had an $87.88 consensus target price.

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Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the target price was cut to $78 from $90 (versus a $78.43 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: FUSN) was started as Outperform with a $25 price target (versus a $15.28 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $16 from $14 at RBC Capital Markets. Raymond James reiterated its Strong Buy rating and raised its target to $18 from $15.

iHeartMedia Inc. (NASDAQ: IHRT) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with an $8 price target (versus an $8.68 close) at JPMorgan.

Hubspot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $240 from $185 (versus a $229.60 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its target price was raised to $435 from $275 (versus a $353.75 close) at B. Riley FBR.

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $170 from $125 (versus a $137.80 close) at Needham. It had a $124.29 consensus target price.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities. Tesla closed up over 9% at $1,643.00 a share on Monday and was indicated up 2% at $1,675 on Tuesday.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $300 from $240 (versus a $263.25 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that investors are finding value in this stock and see a potential infrastructure bill as a catalyst for a higher stock price. Shares most recently closed at $157.24 and have a consensus price target of $157.29.

Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $300 from $240 (versus a $96.15 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION) was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $40 from $50 at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it might be a while before the mouse can find the cheese again. Shares last closed at $117.79 and have a consensus price target of $122.79.

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There were nine major after-hours movers from earnings and other news on Monday.

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Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Amgen, Dropbox, EOG Resources, Gilead Sciences, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Newmont, Starbucks, Valero Energy and more.