Stocks were trying to open higher on Thursday with the NASDAQ, Dow and S&P 500 all showing minimal gains. With a new regime set to lead and make changes many investors and traders alike are trying to figure out how to position their portfolios for 2025 while stocks are basically at all-time highs and when bond yields remain elevated. This is where Wall Street research can come into play. Perhaps Wall Street’s top market pundits have some insights to share.
Oggonomics searches the daily flow of analyst research reports covering the upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street looking for new ideas. These analyst calls tend to look a year out into the future and often have new ideas that might have otherwise been overlooked or missed.
Some analyst calls are just reactionary to earnings and other news, but some analyst calls are preemptive and can move stocks. Short-term traders get a glimpse of immediate price reactions to news and to the analyst calls. Long-term investors get a picture of new buy, sell and hold ratings with targets looking a year out.
Oggonomics always reminds investors and its readers that no single analyst report should ever be the sole basis to buy or sell a stock. That decision to buy or sell, or hold or short sell, is up to each investor and the decision should be made with a financial advisor. And there are of course no assurances that any of the price predictions and the scenarios that back the calls up will actually come to fruition.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Thursday, November 14, 2024.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $250 from $210 (versus $214.10 prior close) at Needham.
Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its price target was cut to $2 from $3 (versus $1.69 prior close) at UBS.
Bloomin Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN) was named as the Bear of the Day at Zacks, with the restaurant chain’s stock struggling with stagnant sales growth and falling earnings estimates in a difficult environment for restaurants.
BXP Inc. (NYSE: BXP), which still loads as Boston Properties, was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $88 from $80 (versus $79.39 prior close) at Compass Point.
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $56 from $47 (versus $4.27 prior close) at Piper Sandler.
Carlisle Companies, Inc. (NYSE: CSL) was initiated with a Hold rating at Truist Securities.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) closed up 0.8% at $59.18 ahead of earnings, but after beating expectations and giving only a slight boost to guidance its shares were down 2.7% at $57.55 on Thursday morning. Cisco was reiterated as Neutral and its price target was raised to $57 from $52 at Piper Sandler. BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price objective to $72 from $60, and Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $62 from $58.
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CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR) was reiterated as Market Outperform and its price target was raised to $360 from $310 at JMP Securities. Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $345 from $300. KeyBanc reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its target to $355 from $340. CyberArk Software closed down 3% at $291.61 ahead of its earnings and above-consensus guidance. It was indicated up less than 1% at $294.00 on Thursday morning.
Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) was reiterated as Neutral and its price objective was raised to $240 from $220 (versus $233.07 prior close) at BofA Securities.
Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE: JXN) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line but its price target was raised to $95 from $74 (versus $108.20 prior close) at Evercore ISI.
Kronos Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRON) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, and it was also downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Cowen.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $564 from $544 (versus $521.88 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. Mastercard was reiterated at Outperform and its target was raised to $565 from $550 at BMO Capital Markets.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) was reiterated with a Buy rating and its price target was raised to $200 from $145 at HSBC. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $175 from $150, and Raymond James reiterated its Strong Buy rating and raised its target to $170 from $140. NVIDIA closed down 1.36% at $146.27 on Wednesday but was indicated up 0.8% at $147.50 on Thursday in early trading.
Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG, after Evercore ISI and Canaccord Genuity lowered their respective target prices on Wednesday.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) was raised to In-Line from Underperform and its price target was raised to $140 from $117 (versus $125.26 close) at Evercore ISI.
Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Mizuho.
Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN) was maintained as Neutral but its price target was raised to $12 from $10 at Goldman Sachs. Rivian closed up 13.7% at $12.03 ahead of the call on the expanded VW joint-venture and financing.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: RKLB) closed up 28.4% at $18.83 on Wednesday after earnings and record launches. Rocket Lab reiterated as Buy and its price objective was raised to $30 from $10 at BofA Securities. More muted price target hikes had been seen from Wells Fargo (to $13.50 from $5.25) and Stifel (to $22 from $15) on Wednesday.
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) was reiterated with a Buy rating and its price target was raised to $35 from $34 (versus $31.91 prior close) at Deutsche Bank.
Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $12 from $10 at Needham. Stratasys had closed up 20.5% at $10.11 on Wednesday on a strong post-earnings reaction.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was reiterated with a Hold rating but its price target was raised to $300 from $195 at Jefferies. Tesla closed up 0.5% at $330.24 on Wednesday but was indicated down about 0.5% on Thursday in early trading.
Turning Point Brands, inc. (NYSE: TPB) was initiated at Outperform and its price target was announced at $65 (versus $55.00 close) at Oppenheimer.
Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) has already had a strong week with many target hikes as an AI trade, but Zacks is also naming it the Bull of the Day as its stock is staging a major comeback.
Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ZETA) lost nearly half its value in the last two trading days after earnings. Zeta was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight by KeyBanc Capital Markets.
If you missed Wednesday’s top analyst calls they can be found here.
