Stocks experienced their worst two trading days in four years with close to a 1,900-point drop in the Dow Jones industrials alone to put the index now down 5.1% so far in 2020. The wider reports of the coronavirus spreading outside of China are major issues, and some investors and analysts are citing election risks with many business sectors being hit. Futures had traded down and in a wide range, but the markets looked like they were trying to stage the same small bounce as the prior morning started out with.
Despite this being an election year and despite the global economy being affected by the coronavirus, many investors have yet to make any major changes to their holdings after the incredible gains from 2019.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wednesday, February 26, 2020.
Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 3.5% at $66.92 on Tuesday, with a $101.45 consensus target price.
Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: AVDL) was started with an Overweight rating and a $14 target price (versus a $10.22 prior close, after a 3.9% drop) at Piper Sandler.
Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was started with a Neutral rating and a $46 target price (versus a $47.88 close) at Goldman Sachs. It has a $45.20 consensus target price.
Casper Sleep Inc. (NASDAQ: CSPR) may have picked a very unlucky time for its $12 IPO in 2020. After initially surging after a low-end pricing, the stock has slid with the rest of the market in February and its shares closed down nearly 4% at $9.70 as of Tuesday. Wedbush Securities started it with a Neutral rating and a $10 target price.
CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $233 target price at UBS. Shares closed down about 0.5% at $208.32 on Tuesday and were indicated up over 1% at $210.75 on Wednesday.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was reiterated as Buy with a $185 target price (versus a $166.65 close) at Argus, with the independent research firm noting that the recent weakness is a buying opportunity based on management’s ability to understand and do a good job of managing its pricing and costs.
Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $420 price target at Argus. The stock was up over 1.5% at $368.66 on Tuesday despite the market drop, and this was a $297.10 stock just last week before its earnings report took shares up to $373.16 in one trading day.
Dyadic International Inc. (NASDAQ: DYAI) was maintained with a Buy rating and a $14 target price at Dawson James (versus a $5.30 close). The firm noted that the company now plans to work with Israel’s Institute for Biological Research to explore the C1 gene expression platform to express gene sequences and targets into an rVaccine candidate and monoclonal antibodies that may help combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) closed down 5% at $35.31 as of Tuesday’s close, and against a consensus target price of $46.43. Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating while lowering its target price to $50 from $65.
GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: GWPH) was down 3% at $117.05 on Tuesday and was indicated down over 8% at $107.00 on Wednesday. Needham maintained its Buy rating but trimmed its target price to $190 from $200.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $260 from $240 at JPMorgan. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $270 from $250. Home Depot closed down only about 1% at $237.38 in its post-earnings reaction, with a $247.54 consensus target price and against a 52-week trading range of $179.52 to $247.36.
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) was down 4.7% at $27.42 as of Tuesday’s close after reporting a loss but beating on revenue expectations. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $32 from $28.
24/7 Wall St.Kratos Defense & Securities Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) was down 22% at $15.00 after earnings on Tuesday. Jefferies raised its rating to Buy from Hold after the weakness.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) showed a mixed earnings report after closing down over 3.5% at $118.52. Lowe’s was given a preliminary review at Wedbush, with the firm’s first take keeping its Outperform rating and $135 target price and calling the quarter a low-quality beat but with solid guidance.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $112 target price at HSBC. Nike closed down 3.1% at $92.90, versus a consensus target price of $110.89 and with a 52-week trading range of $77.07 to $105.62
RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL) closed up 0.1% at $14.97 but was trading down 6.5% at $14.00 in early post-earnings indications. Wells Fargo maintained it as Overweight but lowered its target price to $25 from $29. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating with a $24 target price.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) closed up about 4% at $442.35 on Tuesday with a $48.6 billion market cap. Robert W. Baird downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform. Canaccord Genuity raised its rating to Buy from Hold and raised its target price to $550 from $410.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was down 2.5% at $181.27 ahead of earnings, but despite beating guidance the shares initially fell another 2% to $177 on news that co-CEO Keith Block was stepping down after just 18 months on the job. Raymond James reiterated its Strong Buy rating and raised its target to $230 from $200, and Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $195 from $185.
SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the stock has soared over the past year and it topped earnings in the fourth quarter. Shares recently closed at $133.00, with a consensus price target of $124.83.
Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVA) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $21 from $14 by Credit Suisse. Shares closed up 2.25 at $17.94 on Tuesday, with a $17.43 consensus target price.
Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was down 6% at $20.80 on Tuesday, and Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $30 from $24.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with a $32 target price (versus a $29.25 close) at JPMorgan. Shares closed down 10.5% on Tuesday, and the consensus target price was $38.56.
Tilly’s Inc. (NYSE: TLYS) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that shares have plummeted over 45% in 2020 and earnings have been sluggish recently. The shares last closed at $6.63 and have a consensus price target of $11.83.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) announced the inevitable with CEO Bob Iger passing the baton, with a 3.6% drop to $128.19 ahead of the news and another 2.5% drop to $125.00 afterward. Disney was reiterated as Buy with a $168 price objective at Merrill Lynch.
24/7 Wall St.SunTrust Robinson Humphrey downgraded homebuilders to Hold from Buy with a more balanced risk-reward scenario now that its thesis has played out better than anticipated. The stocks downgraded included D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM).
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Aurora Cannabis, Biogen, EverQuote, Micron Technology, Nio, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, Tandem Diabetes Care, Tesla, Wix.com and many more companies.
Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Here’s a Great First Step
Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?
Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.
Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.
The post Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Casper, CME, Deere, Disney, Domino’s, Home Depot, Nike, RealReal, Salesforce, SolarEdge, Sunrun and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..