Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Baidu, Broadcom, Cardinal Health, Caterpillar, Halliburton, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Texas Instruments and More

Investing

Published: January 13, 2022 8:57 am

Last Updated: January 21, 2022 11:15 am

The futures were mixed Thursday morning, after all the major indexes except the Russell 2000 posted small gains Wednesday. The consumer price index report came in pretty much as expected, with prices rising at the fastest pace since 1982, while December prices were up 0.5%, and over the past year a staggering 7% increase. Though the recent selling in the Treasury market took a break Wednesday, as yields were down across the curve with the exception of the long end, most on Wall Street feel that the Federal Reserve is way behind, and some firms think that the rate lift-off may begin as soon as March.

With the CPI data in the books, many Wall Street professionals will be looking for Friday’s retail sales report. In addition, fourth-quarter earnings kick off Friday, and some of the big banks will be out with what are expected to be strong results.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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, January 13, 2022.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating on the semiconductor powerhouse’s stock and raised the $135 price target to $148. The posted consensus target is $142.50. The last trade on Wednesday saw the stock close at $137.47.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO): Cowen maintained an Outperform rating on the popular clothing retailer and raised the target price to $40 from $31. The consensus price target is $39, and Wednesday’s closing print of $23.37 was down over 3% for the day.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): UBS maintained a Buy rating on the shares and lifted the target price to $230 from $220. The consensus price target is $241.69. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $159.36.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO): Zacks has selected this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst points out that not all chip stocks are created equal. The shares most recently closed at $622.00 and have a consensus price target of $676.33.

BuzzFeed Inc. (NASDAQ: BZFD): Craig Hallum started coverage with a Buy rating and a $7.50 target price. The shares have traded as high as $14.77 since last year’s initial public offering but closed on Wednesday at $4.56.