Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Beyond Meat, Cimarex, Cloudflare, CSX, Exxon, Micron, NetApp, Unity Software and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: October 13, 2020 9:02 am

Last Updated: October 13, 2020 10:22 am

Stocks had been rising daily, but Tuesday’s market indexes were showing a small bit of selling pressure heading into earnings season. Many investors missed out on the recovery since late March, but many of the key leadership stocks have pulled back from their highs to more attractive entry points.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $57 price target (versus a $38.41 a prior close) at Susquehanna.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Negative from Neutral with an $8 price target (versus a $12.92 prior close) at Susquehanna.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Janney, which noted that the latest close at $158.32 has exceeded its fair value estimate of $153.00.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $136 price target (versus a $192.30 prior close) at Bernstein.

Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $99 from $96 (versus a $78.23 prior close) at Wedbush Securities.

Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $31 target price (versus a $26.89 prior close) at Citigroup.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $40 from $30 (versus a $ 24.77 prior close) at Truist Securities.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET) was reiterated as Buy at Needham and its price target was raised to $69 from $50. Shares closed up 23% at $57.01 on Monday and have a $47 prior consensus price target.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was raised to Positive from Neutral with an $87 price target (versus a $74.63 prior close) at Susquehanna. It had a $69.66 consensus price target ahead of this call.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $94 price target at Bernstein.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was raised to Neutral from Sell and its price target was raised to $36 from $33 at Goldman Sachs. The stock closed down 0.3% at $34.63 on Monday and has a $45.59 consensus price target. Exxon still has a 10% dividend yield because its stock has traded down so much.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was raised to Buy from Underperform and the price target was raised to $50 from $20 (versus a $37.59 prior close) at BofA Securities. It had a $33.61 consensus price target ahead of the call.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST) was raised to Market Outperform from Market Perform and its target was raised to $14 from $12 (versus an $11.49 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that it transformed itself into a global titan of the live music world, but that’s a problem when there’s no live music. Shares last closed at $55.84 and have a consensus price target of $55.00.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $60 price target at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed up 1.6% at $50.68 on Monday, with a $63.12 consensus price target.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley, which also raised its price target to $49 from $38.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U) was down over 9% at $90.00 on Monday, and now its analysts have been freed up to cover the stock. Barclays started it as Equal Weight with a $97 target, and Stifel started it as Hold with an $80 price target.

Voyager Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VYGR) was trading lower by about 10% at $10.85 after a clinical hold was placed on its Huntington’s candidate. Wedbush Securities maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $19 from $24.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the company has shown off its growing e-commerce strength during this pandemic. Shares most recently closed at $144.25 and have a consensus price target of $147.36.

24/7 Wall St.
Goldman Sachs Has 5 Stocks That Could Explode Higher on Q3 Earnings

We have also seen six big upgrades of down-and-out turnaround stocks ahead of their coming earnings reports.

Goldman Sachs analysts have found a number of top stocks in the firm’s coverage universe that could be poised to come in with much better than expected third-quarter results. We picked five that offer growth investors some solid upside.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Caterpillar, DraftKings, Ford, Nvidia, PepsiCo, Snowflake and Twitter.