This Week, From The Analyst Community

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 for our readers. 

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 brokerage firms over the past week.   

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Monday, April 25th

• Morgan Stanley analyst Thomas Allen upgraded Penn National (PENN) to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $51, down from $55. While the analyst had been concerned about the ability of the company’s theScore to take sports betting/iGaming market share in Canada, his recent proprietary analysis suggests that it is the market leader in app downloads.

• Raymond James analyst Chris Caso upgraded AMD (AMD) to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $160 price target. AMD appears well-positioned amid cycle risks, and Caso has strong confidence regarding AMD‘s position and share gains in the datacenter market.
• Goldman Sachs analyst Brett Feldman downgraded Verizon (VZ) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $55, down from $61. As AT&T (T) shows improved execution and financial performance over the coming quarters, the stock’s “valuation gap” with Verizon will compress, driving outperformance in AT&T, Feldman told investors in a research note.
• Wolfe Research analyst Alex Zukin initiated coverage of Snowflake (SNOW) with an Outperform rating and $250 price target. The analyst sees the potential for Snowflake “to become the 4th hyperscaler,” saying it is growing faster than Amazon Web Services (AMZN) at the same size and scale with the best management team in software.

Tuesday, April 26th

• Stifel analyst Mark Kelley upgraded Twitter (TWTR) to Hold from Sell with a price target of $54.20, up from $39, after the company entered into a definitive deal to be acquired by Elon Musk at a price of $54.20 per share in cash.
• Susquehanna analyst Bascome Majors upgraded J.B. Hunt (JBHT) to Positive from Neutral with a price target of $217, up from $210. The analyst upgrade reflects his rising conviction it can deliver double-digit later-cycle earnings growth, considerable capacity to grow intermodal on BNSF in 2023, and the stock’s valuation following the early-April selloff.
• Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion double downgraded Redfin (RDFN) to Underweight from Overweight with a price target of $11, down from $40. The analyst has a “subdued outlook” for housing and says his model updates suggest flat to negative real estate services growth for Redfin in 2022 and 2023 versus the Street’s expectations of 9% growth in 2022 and 16% in 2023.
• Raymond James analyst David Long downgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to Market Perform from Strong Buy without a price target following the first quarter results. The analyst says that with stock-picking becoming increasingly important among the banks, he does not see a specific positive catalyst that would drive Zions shares to outperform.

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Wednesday, April 27th

• HSBC analyst Abhishek Kumar upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $41.60, up from $36.60. The higher oil price and current geopolitical situation have led to a much improved medium-term outlook for the company, Kumar told investors in a research note. The analyst also upgraded Schlumberger (SLB) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $44.20, up from $40.60.
• Goldman Sachs analyst Kevin Kumar initiated coverage of Appian (APPN) with a Buy rating and $70 price target. The analyst likes the company due to its expanding low-code platform and growing community of developers and partners, which he says is catalyzing more adoption and improved unit economics.

Thursday, April 28th

• Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy upgraded MSCI (MSCI) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $515 price target. The recent broad market sell-off combined with MSCI’s underperformance following first quarter earnings results has created an attractive entry point, O’Shaughnessy told investors in a research note.
• Wells Fargo analyst Stephen Baxter downgraded Teladoc (TDOC) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $40, down from $104, after the company reported soft first quarter results, lowered 2022 guidance for revenue and profitability, and is reevaluating long-term guidance.  Credit Suisse, Citi, Guggenheim, William Blair, SVB Leerink and JPMorgan also downgraded the stock to Neutral-equivalent ratings.
• Pivotal Research analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak downgraded Spotify (SPOT) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $110, down from $235. The company reported a modestly better-than-expected first quarter, but the in-line second quarter user and revenue guidance were offset by materially higher than forecast Q2 spend, Wlodarczak told investors in a research note.

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Friday, April 29th

• Wedbush analyst Tom Nikic initiated coverage of lululemon (LULU) with an Outperform rating and $430 price target. The analyst views view the company as a “core holding” in the apparel/footwear space, saying it is likely to continue benefiting from the secular macro-trend towards athleisure/casual apparel.
• RBC Capital analyst Shelby Tucker initiated coverage of Constellation Energy (CEG) with an Outperform rating and $72 price target. If passed, the Section 45 federal production credit could “lock in a high floor value for nuclear power plants,” Tucker tells investors in a research note.
• MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson upgraded Roku (ROKU) to Neutral from Sell with a $100 price target. The analyst is now in line with consensus expectations for Roku and is “no longer massively below” 2025 estimates. Roku’s profitability picture “has come into brighter light,” Nathanson tells investors in a research note.

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