Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alibaba, Chewy, Danaher, Energy Transfer, LiveNation, Salesforce, Splunk and More

Investing

Published: July 16, 2021 8:49 am

Last Updated: July 20, 2021 3:20 pm

The futures were slightly higher on Friday as the first week for major corporate second-quarter earnings reporting came to a close. In some cases it was a “Buy the rumor, sell the news” week, as some of the companies that came in with big numbers were met with some stiff selling. With inflation still the elephant in the room, as a recent string of hotter-than-expected inflation readings and headlines about continued supply chain constraints dented some investors’ risk appetite, Chair Jerome Powell maintained the Federal Reserve’s stance that current inflation readings will be transitory and fade as the year progresses.

Despite the added concerns across Wall Street about tapering of the quantitative easing program and a clear building of inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be among the reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets even after sell-offs. Also note that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength 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 Friday, July 16, 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock due to its geopolitical risk. Shares last closed at $214.76, and the consensus price target is $292.21.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on the shares with an Outperform rating and a $101 price target. The consensus target is posted at $97.32. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $77.49.