Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Airlines, Boston Beer, CarMax, Danaher, Domino’s, Monster, Starbucks and More

Investing

Published: July 23, 2021 8:42 am

Last Updated: July 26, 2021 8:36 am

The futures were higher across the board as we get ready to wrap up a wild and crazy trading week that started with a huge Monday sell-off and looks now to finish strong. A number of the Wall Street pundits pointed once again to the “buy the dip” crowd of retail investors that jumped in after Monday’s massive selling. In addition, others cited oversold conditions that carried through from last week, positive earnings surprises, corporate commentary that highlighted what appears to be favorable demand metrics, share buybacks and also worries about the tail risks from Delta variant are very overdone.

Many across Wall Street remain leery of the beginning of the tapering of the quantitative easing program after the clear building of inflationary pressures, despite the fact the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be one reason 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 23, 2021.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NYSE: AAL): Seaport Global Securities upgraded the venerable carrier’s stock from Neutral to Buy with a $27 price target. The consensus target price is much lower at $18.85. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $21.16.

Banc of California Inc. (NASDAQ: BANC): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $20 price target. The posted consensus target is $22.04. The stock closed Thursday at $16.94.

BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BXC): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $45 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $80. The shares closed Thursday at $40.76, which was down almost 4% for the day, but they were up almost 10% in Friday’s premarket action.