Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Eagle, Baidu, GameStop, Halliburton, Mosaic, Regeneron, Salesforce, Take-Two, Wells Fargo and More

Investing

Published: January 25, 2021 9:04 am

Last Updated: June 15, 2021 1:25 pm

The futures traded lower on Monday as Wall Street returns for a full week of trading and more review of President Biden’s plans for the first 100 days of his administration, which already includes a record-setting 30 executive orders that have been signed. With fourth-quarter earnings reports continuing to stream in, many across Wall Street will not only be examining the results but also looking to see what guidance for the first quarter and the rest of 2021 look like. With all the major indexes and the Russell 2000 closing still close to all-time highs, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021, as a pullback could be in the offing.

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, January 25, 2021.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform with a $185 price target at BMO Capital Markets. The Wall Street consensus target is lower at $166. The last trade on Friday hit the tape at $173.28, up over 3% on the day.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, which also raised the price target to $30. The consensus target is $26.15, and the stock closed on Friday at $24.28 a share.

ArcelorMittal Inc. (NYSE: MT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Shares of the steel giant have traded in a 52-week range of $6.64 to $25.76 and have a consensus price target of $28.60. The shares closed most recently at $28.60.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) was started with a Buy rating at BofA Securities, which has a $50 price objective. That compares to a $43 consensus target and the close at $41.05 on Friday.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the rumors were confirmed that this company will become the Tesla of China. Shares most recently closed at $252.75 and have a consensus price target of $208.86.

CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBRE) was started with a Buy rating and a $74 price target at Goldman Sachs. The consensus target is $63.33. The final Friday trade was reported at $66.02 a share.

Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE) was raised at JPMorgan from Underweight to Neutral with a $44 target. The consensus target is $37.35. The stock was last seen on Friday at $42.36.

GameStop Inc. (NYSE: GME) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Telsey Advisory Group, though the firm boosted the price target to $33. That compares to a very low $11 consensus target. The shares have been on a wild ride over the past month and closed Friday at $65.01, after more than a 50% gain for the day. Not to be outdone the shares were up a gigantic 60% in premarket trading Monday morning, as a massive short squeeze continues.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) was downgraded at Goldman Sachs to Neutral from Buy, and the price target was dropped to $10.40. The posted consensus target is $11.62, and the stock closed Friday at $9.92, up over 3% on the day.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Atlantic Equities, which has set a $23 target for the oilfield services leader. The consensus target is $21.88. The last trade on Friday came in at $19.24.