Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Chewy, MGM Resorts, Microsoft, Salesforce, Sony, Virgin Galactic and More

Investing

Published: July 28, 2021 8:50 am

Last Updated: July 28, 2021 11:07 am

The futures were mixed on Wednesday, after the risk-off sellers were out in full force Tuesday. All the major indexes closed in the red, while many of the meme stocks were hit extremely hard. Some chalked the selling up to concerns over the COVID-19 Delta variant and fears over new mask mandates and shutdowns. Others continued to point to the inflationary signs that are showing up almost daily across the economy. The selling Tuesday did bring back the Treasury bond buyers, as yields were down across the curve.

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 Wednesday, July 28, 2021.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the chip giant, which also resides on the Conviction List of top stocks, after the company beat second-quarter expectations, guided third quarter above street consensus and positively revised its full-year outlook. The firm has a $115 price target, while the consensus target is $104.79. The shares closed Tuesday at $91.03. The stock was up almost 3% in Wednesday’s premarket.

AON PLC (NYSE: AON): Raymond James raised the shares to Market Perform from Underperform. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $179.52 to $260.97 and has a $265.75 consensus target price. The stock was last seen up almost 4% on Tuesday to $259.58.