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Thursday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AT&T, Alibaba, Ally Financial, BioMarin, Box, Citrix Systems, Five Below, Nio, TJX and More

Lee Jackson

Published: October 7, 2021 8:52 am

Last Updated: October 8, 2021 7:56 am

The futures were up across the board Thursday, after the roller-coaster returned on Wednesday, along with the sellers, before the buy-the-dip crowd showed up to lift all the indexes into positive territory by the close. Initially, concerns over inflation appeared to be the major impetus behind the risk-off move, until chatter about signs of progress emerged in Washington on the debt ceiling debate. Surging energy prices across the globe, which include a massive run-up in natural gas, where prices have jumped 46% in Europe this week alone, and are up more than sevenfold this year are helping to drive the inflation debate.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on rising interest rates, Federal Reserve tapering due to begin soon, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries, and analysts are not nearly as positive on the upcoming earnings seasons as they were for the second quarter. Toss in the debt ceiling and China worries, and the cauldron continues to simmer.

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, October 7, 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): Zacks selected the so-called Amazon of the East as its Bear of the Day stock, citing geopolitical risks. Shares last closed at $144.10, and the consensus price target is $247.87.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS): Jefferies upgraded the stock to a Buy rating from Hold and has a $36 price target. The consensus target is set at $28.13. The shares closed Wednesday at $31.19.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): Stephens downgraded the bank to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $67 price target. The consensus target is $65.60. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $53.69.

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