Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Anheuser-Busch, Foot Locker, Kohl's, Snowflake, Starbucks, Zscaler and More

Investing

Published: September 30, 2021 8:54 am

Last Updated: September 30, 2021 9:01 am

The futures traded higher Thursday, as the last trading day for September and the third quarter began. While the market came back with a nice snapback rally initially Wednesday, the strength faded into the closing bell. Note that many funds and their portfolio managers may be adding typical end-of-quarter window dressing Thursday.

While this week’s volatility still is being pegged to the swift back-up in interest rates, it appears that many feel the buy-the-dip strategies that have been a big part of the market for some time now should continue to work. Top strategists are citing the ongoing easy financial conditions and accommodative monetary policy, the strong corporate profit backdrop, expected capital expenditures, inventory and corporate buybacks, and the peaking Delta variant spread.

Though the recent consumer price index and retail sales data has tempered some of the inflation and growth worries, mounting stagflation concerns continued to pick up, amid the ongoing supply chain and input pressures and recovery headwinds from the spread of the Delta variant. Federal Reserve assurances that rates will remain accommodative continue to provide a tailwind for equities though.

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 Thursday, September 30, 2021.

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD): JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $16 price target. The consensus target is higher at $17.11. The stock closed Wednesday at $9.66, which was down over 5% on the day. Shares rallied back in the premarket, up almost 6% after the company announced the spin-off part of its gene therapy business.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD): Argus downgraded the King of Beers to Hold from Buy. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $51.45 and $79.67, and they have a $75 consensus price objective. The stock closed trading at $57.54.