Analysts were busy this week, upgrading, changing price targets, and initiating coverage of a variety of companies.
Upgrade
Under Armour (UAA) – Get Report was upgraded to buy from hold by a Deutsche Bank analyst who said he saw opportunities for the athletic apparel maker in multiple areas and increased margins.
TC Energy (TRP) – Get Report was upgraded to outperform from neutral by Credit Suisse analyst Andrew Kuske, who said President Joe Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for TC’s Keystone XL pipeline removes a distraction for the company.
American Express (AXP) – Get Report is in a position to rebound to be “a top-line leader,” according to a J.P. Morgan analyst, who double upgraded shares of the credit card giant to overweight from underweight.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) – Get Report was upgraded by Morgan Stanley to overweight from equal weight. Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison also raised his price target on the biotechnology giant to $83 from $67.
Facebook (FB) – Get Report was upgraded to outperform by BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Salmon who said the social media giant will be able to grow advertiser conversions within the platform rather than from outside signals as it unifies its e-commerce, payments and messaging infrastructures.
Fastly (FSLY) – Get Report was upgraded to outperform from perform with a $125 price target by Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan, who said he has grown “incrementally positive” about the cloud-service provider.
Downgrade
Virgin Galactic (SPCE) – Get Report was downgraded to neutral from positive by Susquehanna with a $32 price target. Also, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign-wealth fund, Mubadala Investment, reduced its stake in the company to 11.8 million shares, or 5.04%, from 14.9 million shares, or 7.08%.
Peloton (PTON) – Get Report, Fiverr (FVRR) – Get Report, and Chewy (CHWY) – Get Report were all downgraded by UBS, which also lowered its price targets to $124 from $158 for Peloton; to $190 from $267 for Fiverr; and to $75 from $108 for Chewy.
Ceragon Networks (CRNT) – Get Report was downgraded by analysts at Needham to underperform from buy amid valuation concerns as the stock has more than doubled (up 120%) year to date.
Price Target
Tesla (TSLA) – Get Report saw its price target raised by $550 a share, to $1,036. Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch said production-cost cuts, self-driving advances and improving China sales should continue to provide a tailwind for the shares.
Benchmark analyst Mark Miller raised his price target on Seagate (STX) – Get Report stock to $70 from $60 and affirmed a buy rating. “The recovery in enterprise demand is expected to continue, offsetting some seasonal March quarter weakness in consumer-related drive sales,” Miller said in a note published Thursday. “This recovery should also aid margins. Further improvements in margins are expected in 2021, as covid-related costs wane and factory utilization improves.”
Initiate Coverage
Credit Suisse initiated coverage of Penn National Gaming (PENN) – Get Report with an outperform rating and a Wall-Street-high price target of $128 a share.
Roku (ROKU) – Get Report is “well positioned as TV viewing increasingly shifts to streaming,” according to a J.P. Morgan analyst, who initiated coverage of the media-streaming platform with an overweight rating and $475 price target.
Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Report received a buy rating and Oracle (ORCL) – Get Report received a sell rating from Goldman Sachs Friday, as the investment bank initiated coverage of 12 software companies.
Sports power vehicle maker Polaris Industries (PII) – Get Report received an initial overweight rating from Morgan Stanley and an upgrade to outperform from BMO.
Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Byrd initiated coverage of SolarEdge (SEDG) – Get Report with an overweight rating and a $354 price target.