Stock analysts can provide valuable insight into the sentiment around a certain stock or sector and shed some light on what is possible or likely for a stock. Stirrings in the analyst community can sometimes be early signs of stock movement. Which is why our team reviews dozens of analyst research reports each and every day with the goal of finding new investment ideas.
Of the hundreds of reports we reference weekly, some stand out among the others for various reasons. Our team has sifted through this week’s reports and whittled it down to the most pertinent moves.
Read on for the details on some of the most impactful actions taken by analysts over the past week.
Monday, September 12th
- Citi analyst Scott Gruber upgraded APA Corp. (APA) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $58, up from $40. The company offers an underappreciated growth story, combining upcoming exposure to the strength in global gas prices coupled with base volume growth, and potentially supplemented by a Suriname development longer term, Gruber told investors in a research note.
- Cowen analyst Doug Creutz initiated coverage of Roblox (RBLX) with an Underperform rating and $31 price target. The company is a successful video game and entertainment platform “with some attractive attributes,” but its current valuation “far too aggressively” factors in a metaverse future that is still likely “far away,” Creutz argued.
- Loop Capital analyst Mark Schappel initiated coverage of Monday.com (MNDY) with a Buy rating and $175 price target. The analyst sees the company as the “likely winner” in the emerging digital teamwork tools market, stating that its software suite consists of a collection of configurable workplace collaboration and planning tools that helps teams of employees collaborate on shared projects or tasks.
Tuesday, September 13th
- BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman downgraded Adobe (ADBE) to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $435, up from $420. His latest survey data indicated that respondents across the board expressed a greater willingness to move away from Adobe Creative Cloud relative to his April checks, particularly younger employees and employees working for organizations with fewer than 5K employees.
- Exane BNP Paribas analyst Karl Ackerman initiated coverage of Micron (MU) with an Outperform rating and $75 price target. The market is entering a cyclical downturn in memory demand, but Ackerman thinks DRAM will bottom before NAND and favors Micron over peers given its market leadership on process technology. The analyst also started Skyworks (SWKS) with an Outperform rating and $120 price target given the relative strength of the Apple (AAPL) supply chain and its diversification into autos, industrial and IoT markets.
Wednesday, September 14th
- Raymond James analyst John Davis upgraded PayPal (PYPL) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $123 price target. After several consecutive challenging quarters of meaningful negative estimate revisions, Davis now has increased confidence forward estimates have bottomed and expects PayPal’s depressed multiple to grind higher as estimates rise.
- BTIG analyst Gregory Lewis upgraded Nikola (NKLA) to Buy from Neutral with a $12 price target. The analyst believes Nikola is well positioned to benefit from increasing demand to decarbonize the Class 8 truck market.
- Evercore ISI analyst David Togut double downgraded Block (SQ) to Underperform from Outperform with a price target of $55, down from $120. The analyst sees “growing headwinds” to the company’s seller and buy now pay later businesses, driven by increasing competition, tightening credit and an expected slowdown in macroeconomic growth.
Thursday, September 15th
- Atlantic Equities analyst Kunaal Malde upgraded Activision Blizzard (ATVI) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $84, down from $95. The analyst views the stock’s risk/reward as positive given the “substantial upside” if the Microsoft (MSFT) acquisition is approved and “much more limited downside” if the deal does not complete.
- Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo assumed coverage of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) with a Buy rating and $220 price target after taking over primary coverage of the name. Palo Alto’s recent results “appear immune to macro” as it has accelerated billings growth three straight quarters, Gallo said.
- Jefferies analyst Joseph Gallo initiated coverage of Okta (OKTA) with a Buy rating and $90 price target. The stock’s 73% decline year-to-date on “myriad issues,” including the cyber incident, macro environment and sales integration, is an “overcorrection,” Gallo told investors in a research note.
Friday, September 16th
- Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osbourne upgraded Shoals Technologies (SHLS) to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $37.50, up from $29. The analyst sees a “compelling opportunity” over the next six months for Shoals due to the launch of new products that leverage the company’s insulation and fusing patent portfolio for solar cabling and connectors.
- JPMorgan analyst Brian Ossenbeck downgraded FedEx (FDX) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $214, down from $258. The results reported last night likely had a material tailwind from fuel surcharges in a similar way to Q4, which masks the underlying weakness in fiscal Q1 and the Q2 outlook, Ossenbeck tells investors in a research note. FedEx was also downgraded at KeyBanc, Stifel, BofA, and Loop Capital.
- MKM Partners analyst Catharine Trebnick initiated coverage of Palo Alto Networks (PANW) with a Buy rating and $250 price target as part of a broader research note on the Cyber Security Software Sector. Palo Alto Networks is her top pick in the industry given the company’s 75% revenue from subscription services, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
