Wall Street has enjoyed a handy recovery from the April lows, but the overall attitude of the market is still being weighed on by the S&P 500 being down 6% year-to-date. The daily news flow of tariffs, trade wars, deficits and broad economic weakness are still keeping the overall investor sentiment darker than it had been earlier in the year.
Oggonomics has been covering the “downgrade-lite” trend that has been so common in April from analysts on Wall Street. This is where analysts are generally trying to still maintain their positive Buy/Outperform ratings but with larger price target cuts to reflect future earnings pressure and lower current stock prices. It turns out that there are still some diamonds in the rough with positive ratings and price target hikes combined, and there have even been some actual analyst upgrades that are seen in selective names.
The daily flow analyst upgrades and downgrades is a search that looks for new ideas that might otherwise have been missed or overlooked. Oggonomics always reminds its readers that no analyst call should ever be the sole reason to buy or sell a stock. Every investor should consider other factors and their own suitability, and it should also be pointed out that no analyst report has even been issued with a money-back guarantee nor a guaranteed gain to follow.
Here are the few upgrades, positive new Buy/Outperform ratings and price hikes on previous positive ratings from Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $235 from $220 at Morgan Stanley. After closing up 0.4% at $210.14 on Monday, the market was discounting the report as shares were trading down about 0.5% at $209.00 in Tuesday’s early indications. Morgan Stanley’s call believes the earnings report (in just 2 days) and its June-quarter guidance should modestly beat consensus expectations. That said, the firm also expects downside on gross margin expectations due to tariffs. Morgan Stanley’s EPS and revenue estimates are slightly above consensus estimates and the firm expects that a pull-forward in sales may have been the case from buyers trying to get ahead of any would-be price hikes.
CACI International, Inc. (NYSE: CACI) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $510 from $450 (versus $449.49 close) at Barclays. CACI provides services to the defense, intelligence and federal civilian sectors within national security. Its stock has a 52-week range of $318.60 to $588.26.
Crane Company (NYSE: CR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $190 from $157 (versus $148.67 close) at UBS. Crane was last seen trading up 8% at $161.00 after its first quarter earnings update. UBS believes the pullback has given investors a good entry point as Crane’s long-term earnings outlook is positive and will be helped by acquisition opportunities.
Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $18 price target (versus $12.35 close) at Rosenblatt. This ad agency stock has a 52-week range of $8.22 to $21.29.
Matson, Inc. (NYSE: MATX) with started a Buy rating and it was assigned a $125 price target (versus $106.62 close) at Jefferies. As this stock is down from a prior high of about $169. Jefferies believes that the sell-off has presented a compelling buying opportunity for long-term investors who have the patience to muddle through the current headlines and softness. Just keep in mind that this is an ocean transport and logistics company that ships on the West Coast and throughout the Pacific region (including China and Japan).
Nexxen International Ltd. (NASDAQ: NEXN) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $15 price target (versus $9.70 close) at Rosenblatt. This ad agency stock has a 52-week range of $5.41 to $11.00.
The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $320 from $310 at Morgan Stanley. The stock closed at $269.58 after BofA upgraded its rating to Buy just a day earlier.
SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: SBAC) was last seen trading up 5% at $236.00 after better than expected earnings. SBA Communications was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $265 from $250 at Citigroup. SBA was also reiterated as Overweight and its target was raised to $247 from $244 at Barclays.
ServiceTitan, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTAN) was reiterated with a Buy rating and Needham, and its price target was raised to $140 from $125 in the call. This software and back-office solutions provider for contractors has held up since its 2024 IPO and is actually positive with a 15% gain year-to-date.
Strategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) remains the public leveraged and largest known corporate owner of Bitcoin. The firm H.C. Wainwright initated coverage with a Buy rating and assigned a $480 price target. Strategy, the former MicroStrategy, closed at $369.25 ahead of the call with a 52-week range of $101.00 to $543.00.
The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $77 price target at Rosenblatt. The online advertiser closed at $54.40 ahead of the call, and its shares are down from a 52-week high of $141.53 as industry-wide advertising trends are pointing lower around tariffs and economic macro weakness for 2025. Trade Desk shares were last seen up 0.9% at $54.90 after the opening bell.
Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $20 price target (versus $14.31 close) at Rosenblatt. This small-cap advertising technology player has a 52-week range of $7.77 to $26.33.
SPECULATIVE BIO/HEALTH PICKS
- There were multiple speculative biotech and speculative pharma stock calls with much higher price targets on Tuesday. These are below:
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: APLS) was started as Overweight with a $44 price target (versus $17.96 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- Astria Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATXS) was started as Overweight with a $47 price target (at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) was started as Overweight with a $20 price target (versus $8.33 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ: IFRX) was started as Overweight with a $10 price target (versus $1.39 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- Korro Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRRO) was started as Overweight with a $74 price target (versus $17.47 close close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- Pharvaris N.V. (NASDAQ: PHVS) was started as Overweight with a $28 price target (versus $14.70 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
- ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ: PRQR) was started as Outperform with a $5 price target (versus $1.54 close) at Evercore ISI.
- Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: WVE) was started as Overweight with a $10 price target (versus $6.83 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.
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All analyst ratings and price targets listed in this report are issued by each brokerage firm or research firm by name. Oggonomics does not maintain any formal ratings nor does it have any formal price targets of its own on any of these stocks.
