Stocks started the week off in the red, with roughly a 1% drop across the major indexes as COVID-19 cases are rising sharply in the United States and overseas. This is the last week before the election, and it is also the week when earnings season is in full swing and jammed-packed with Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 companies reporting. Many investors missed out on the recovery from late March, and the election and the slowing recovery are all creating a need to look for new ideas.
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 Monday, October 26, 2020.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was reiterated as Positive and its price target was raised to $95 from $85 at Susquehanna, with the call coming just ahead of the earnings report and citing expectations for continued market share gains.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $255 price target (versus a $227.16 close) at Raymond James.
Asana Inc. (NYSE: ASAN) was down 2% at $23.51 ahead of its quiet period ending. The stock was started with Neutral ratings at Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Piper Sandler. RBC Capital Markets started it as Outperform with a $30 target price, while Jefferies started it as Buy and also a $30 price target. KeyBanc Capital Markets started it as Sector Weight and Morgan Stanley started it as Equal Weight.
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $182 from $177 (versus a $133.93 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
BOK Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: BOKF) was reiterated as Hold but its price target was raised to $69 from $60 (versus a $62.59 close) at Truist Securities.
Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that weak sales during the back-to-school shopping season hurt this retailer. Shares last closed at $28.22 and have a consensus price target of $26.89.
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $172 price target at Raymond James. The stock closed up 1.4% at $158.47 on Friday, with a $176.63 consensus target price.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with an $85 target price at Raymond James. The shares closed up 3.5% at $73.06, and they had a $78.94 consensus price target ahead of the call.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $340 from $330 (versus a $284.79 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Facebook was up 2.4% on Friday but was indicated down about 0.5% on Monday. Its consensus target price was $291.55.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $100 target price (versus an $85.37 close, after a 3.3% gain) at Roth Capital.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $12.50 price target (versus a $10.47 close) at Wedbush Securities, which talked up its being on track for nine years of positive operating leverage.
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and was removed from the Best Ideas List at Wedbush, with the firm noting that the investment thesis has played out since the stock was added to the prized list and there was only 4% upside to its $14 price target.
Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said this iconic toymaker has been doubling down on growth initiatives. Shares most recently closed at $14.15 and have a consensus price target of $13.08.
Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) traded up 5.5% at $190.00 on Monday morning after announcing promising anti-tumor activity from its cancer drug candidate adagrasib. SVB Leerink reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $195 from $134. H.C. Wainwright reiterated it as Buy and raised its price target to $238 from $222.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) was down 2% at $9.49 ahead of the quiet period equivalent running out for what had been a direct offering. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs started it with Neutral ratings. RBC Capital Markets assigned a Sector Perform rating. Jefferies started it at Buy with a $13 price target.
Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $60 from $44 at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The stock closed up 4.3% at $53.00 on Friday and now is handily above its old $39.60 consensus price target.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $60 target price at Raymond James. Shares closed up more than 3% at $43.99, and they had a $49.86 consensus price target ahead of the call.
SAP S.E. (NYSE: SAP) traded down 20% at $119.00 on Monday morning, after warning that lockdowns and business conditions in Europe are forcing it to slash 2020 expectations. This appears to be the worst single-day drop for the stock in 20 years or more. JPMorgan downgraded it to Neutral from Overweight.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $55 target price at Raymond James. The stock closed up more than 3% at $47.26 per share and had a $48.93 consensus price target ahead of the call.
Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was started with an Overweight rating and a $190 target price at JPMorgan. The stock closed at $147.05 a share last Friday, and it was indicated up 1.3% at $148.99 on Monday.
Stifel is very positive on gaming software stocks ahead of earnings and has raised price targets on the top three companies in the industry. With earnings coming in early November, aggressive growth investors may want to add some shares now.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Citrix Systems, CRISPR Therapeutics, Dunkin’ Brands, Fastly, Intel, Mattel, PulteGroup, Sirius XM, Southwest Airlines Tesla and Under Armour.
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