The markets have had a lot to adjust to as earnings season kicks off, with the Trump-China standoff causing a panic sell-off in the S&P 500 of 2.7% on Friday followed by a 1.56% recovery on Monday. Now investors have to brace for earnings season with the S&P 500’s year-to-date gain of 14%. Should investors lock in gains to take profits or should they let those gains ride with an outlook into 2026?
Wall Street analysts generally have “Buy” or “Outperform” ratings on stocks, mixed with “Hold” and “Neutral” ratings making for more than 90% of outstanding analyst ratings. That means much less than 10% of stocks have “Sell” and “Underperform” ratings.
Some investors may pay attention to the rare Sell/Underperform ratings since those ratings are much less common — and since they may signal some near-term to long-term caution. Sometimes the negative ratings are news driven or are based on specific concerns to the company or the industry. Other cautious analyst calls are simply because of valuation or as their price targets have been reached.
Oggonomics identified 13 stocks receiving the equivalent of “Sell” ratings in the two days before earnings season kicks off. Investors should always keep in mind that no single analyst call should ever be the sole reason to buy or sell any stock. Some analysts get their thesis wrong, and sometimes company or market fundamentals can change in an instant. And some of these “Sell” ratings also conflict with Many Buy/Outperform and Neutral/Hold rating from other firms.
Please note that all analyst calls in this report are from each firm specifically named. Oggonomics does not maintain any ratings or price targets of its own in any of these stocks.
Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was going to change protein consumption to plant-based protein. That was then. After a debt swap, its stock fell 48% to $1.03 on Monday. TD Cowen has reiterated its Sell rating on Tuesday and slashed its price target down to $0.80 from $2.00.
Celldex Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) was started as Underweight with a $25 price target at Barclays on Monday. While other biotech and pharma names were given positive coverage, Barclays believes that Celldex does not offer meaningful upside through 2026 as the competitive landscape and safety liabilities may weigh on the stock. Celldex actually closed up over 1% at $27.13 on Monday with a $1.8 billion market cap. Its 52-week range is $14.40 to $30.48.
EverCommerce Inc. (NASDAQ: EVCM) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Barclays on Tuesday, with it’s $11 price target maintained as revenue growth has been slowing. It closed up 2.5% at $11.05 ahead of the call but was indicated down 3.6% at $10.65 after the call. EverCommerce’s 52-week range is $8.10 to $12.34 with a $2 billion market cap.
Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities on Tuesday, with its price objective cut to $8 from $9 in that call. Huntsman closed at $8.17 ahead of the call and was down 2% at $7.98 after the call. This stock has been weak as its prior 52-week range of $8.07 to $23.98 is already looking like a new low may be set in for the year.
BofA Securities is now negative on some selective chip stocks after big runs in the sector.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (NASDAQ: GFS) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities on Monday, with an unchanged price objective of $35 in the call.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and its price objective was maintained at $34 on Monday. BofA noted that the recent $80 billion market cap gain should more than reflects the gains in the balance sheet and also prices in all likely external foundry potential in the near-term.
Texas Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA on Monday, but the firm cut its price objective down to $190 from $208 in the call. This call points to turmoil from global tariffs keeping a lid on demand from the industrial economy. Texas Instruments closed at $175.11 on Monday.
Goldman Sachs also had some negative coverage on Tuesday, specific to Bermuda reinsurance and to some managed healthcare insurance providers. Two payment providers also took incoming negative calls as well.
Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL) with a Sell rating and $88 price target (versus $92.37). Goldman Sachs also initiated coverage of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) with a Sell rating and a $256 price target (versus $264.58).
Goldman Sachs has picked dome potential losers as it noted that the managed care industry faces its most significant underwriting downturn in over 15 years. Goldman Sachs started coverage of Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) with a Sell rating and $33 price target, sending shares down 1.6% to $35.95. Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) was started with a Sell rating and $235 price target, sending its shares down almost 3% to $263.00.
PayPal, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $70 price target. PayPal was down 2.5% at $67.16 after the call as Goldman Sachs believes PayPal will face several transaction margin headwinds in 2026.
Goldman Sachs also downgraded Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ: MQ) to Sell from Neutral and slashed its price target down to $5 from $7.50. Marqeta was last seen down 1.5% at $4.63 and its 52-week range is $3.37 to $7.04.
