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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, Charles Schwab, Energy Transfer, JetBlue, Snap, Southwest Air, SunPower and More

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The futures traded down on this Monday as investors saw a nice relief rally fade into the close on Friday as the S&P 500 logged its first four-day losing streak of the year while the Dow Jones industrials posted another intraday all-time high. The market rallied in part as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen once again was pounding the table for massive stimulus. Top analysts on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, and many are urging caution.

While fourth-quarter earnings results are almost complete, most across Wall Street still are not only examining the results but looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With stocks very overbought, major Wall Street firms are warning of an impending 5% to 10% correction, so it makes sense now for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 2021.

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, February 22, 2021.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $240 price target at Loop Capital. The Wall Street consensus target is $159.30. The shares closed Friday at $201.07. The company will be reporting its first publicly traded earnings after the close on Thursday.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) was raised at Deutsche Bank from Hold to Buy with a $75 price target. That compares with the lower $60.29 consensus target and Friday’s $62.28 close, which was up almost 4% on the day.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was raised at Deutsche Bank from Hold to Buy with a $23 price target. The consensus target for the carrier is a much lower $11.94. The last trade for Friday hit the tape at $18.68, after gaining almost 6% on the day.

Cambium Networks Corp. (NASDAQ: CMBM) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which also raised the price target to $56. The consensus target is $50.58, and the $43.04 close on Friday came after shares rose over 5% on the day.


Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was raised to Peer Perform from Underperform at Wolfe Research, which has a $67 price target for the venerable discount broker. The consensus target is $64.96. The shares were last seen on Friday at $61.91.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which also lowered the price target on the utility to $65. The consensus target of $72.21  and Friday’s last trade at $68.18 were both higher.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen, which raised the price target to $150. The consensus target is just $105.79. The closing share price on Friday was $125.86, after almost an 8% gain for the day.

Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) was downgraded to Neutral from Sector Outperform at CIBC, which raised the price target on the marijuana company to $12.50. No consensus target was available. The shares rose almost 5% on Friday to close at $12.30.

Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) was raised from Neutral to Overweight with a $9 price objective at Piper Sandler. The consensus target is $10.47, and the stock closed Friday at $7.00 a share.


Lightspeed POS Inc. (NASDAQ: LSPD) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $120. No consensus target was available. The stock closed Friday’s trading at $77.50, up over 5% for the day.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $21 price target at Deutsche Bank. That compares with a consensus target of $15.70. Friday’s last trade came in at $17.39.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Neutral to Overweight with a $67 price target. The consensus target for the oil giant is a much lower $52.93. The most recent close was at $53.00 a share.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Overweight to Neutral with a $65 target. The consensus target is $80.94. The most recent close was at $82.31, up almost 4% on the day.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Equal Weight to Overweight with an $80 price target. The consensus target for the social media company is $61.87. The close on Friday was at $65.52, up over 4% for the day.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which has a $23 price target for the solar giant. That compares with the consensus target of $30.89. The stock closed on Friday at $37.76, up almost 4% for the day, but the shares retreated almost 5% in Monday’s premarket trading. The company reported solid earnings but gave some disappointing forward guidance.

Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which raised the price target on the utility giant to $68. The consensus target is $63.33. The shares closed Friday at $59.31.

Southwest Airlines Inc. (NYSE: LUV) was raised at Deutsche Bank from Hold to Buy with a $64 price target. The consensus target for the leading low-cost carrier is $56.26. The stock closed Friday at $52.81.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which raised the price target to $50. That compares with a $42.75 consensus target and Friday’s close at $39.46.

Tradeweb Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: TW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $85. The consensus target is just $69.21, and the stock closed on Friday at $69.30.

U.S. Cellular Corp. (NYSE: USM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. The firm also lowered the price target to $35. The consensus target is up at $41.20. The stock was last seen on Friday at $31.68, down close to 4% on the day.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the 2021 numbers have slipped a little bit but the valuation on this stock still looks good. Shares last closed at $144.68 and have a consensus price target of $170.50.


Four Jefferies growth stock picks for more aggressive investors all have significant catalysts to drive growth the rest of 2021 and beyond. Two of them are red-hot companies cashing in on sports betting that could be huge long-term winners.

This week’s most anticipated earnings reports include those from Airbnb, DraftKings, Home Depot and Moderna.

The analyst calls made last week included eight top tech stocks to buy now.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, Beyond Meat, Clorox, KB Home, Kraft Heinz, NetApp, Roku and Under Armour. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Crocs, Macy’s and more.

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