Stocks were off to a positive start on Monday. While last week was a slight dip for the S&P 500 it was still a mixed week for broader stocks and the major indexes are all right at all-time highs. Investors are now awaiting the next move from the Federal Reserve this week and are planning for 2025 strategies with a new regime and new policies and tariffs and likely government spending cuts. Major Wall Street strategists have also raised their S&P 500 targets for 2025 in the last three weeks.

Tactical Bulls searches the daily flow of analyst research reports covering the upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street looking for new ideas that might have otherwise been overlooked or missed. These analyst reports generally try to look out a year out into the future with ratings and target prices.

Some analyst calls are just reactionary to earnings and other news. Other 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.

Tactical Bulls always reminds its readers and investors 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 initiations, upgrades and downgrades from brokerage firms and independent research firms on Monday, December 16, 2024.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM) was reiterated as Hold and its price target was raised to $75 from $45 (versus $70.70 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR) was reiterated with a Buy rating and a $12.50 price target at HC Wainwright. Archer Aviation closed up 17% at $8.39 on Friday.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) was reiterated as Market Outperform and its price target was raised to $6,100 from $5,400 (versus $5,227.61 close) at JMP Securities.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a price target hike to $134 from $132 (versus $101.02 close) at Mizuho.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

El Pollo Loco (NASDAQ: LOCO) was named the Bull of the Day at Zacks as the chicken restaurant is valued on sale after a 10% pullback from its highs.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $305 target price (versus $265.81 close) at Exane BNP Paribas.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) was maintained as Neutral but its target was cut to $134 from $137 at Mizuho.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold with a price target cut to $9 from $12 at Jefferies. Ford closed at $10.39 on Friday and was indicated down 2% at $10.18 on Monday morning.

Grindr Inc. (NYSE: GRND) was initiated as Buy with a $20 price target (versus $15.74 close) at Goldman Sachs. Grindr was indicated up 1% or so at $15.90 on Monday.

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Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $200 price target (versus $166.50 close) at JPMorgan.

LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFST) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $10 price target (versus $7.17 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its price objective was cut to $92 from $114 (versus $84.39 close) at BofA Securities.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) was raised to Buy from Hold with $20 target at Gordon Haskett. Macy’s closed up 2.6% at $16.56 on Friday and was indicated up 0.9% at $16.70 on Monday.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) was cut to Underperform from Neutral and its price objective was cut to $65 from $80 (versus $59.93 close) at BofA Securities. MCHP was indicated down 2.7% at $58.30 on Monday morning.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with $160 target price (versus $121.95 close) at JP Morgan. NetApp was indicated up 3.5% at $126.20 on Monday.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital, but the firm did raise its price target to $950 from $800 in the call. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $1065 from $825 in its Netflix call.

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was maintained with a Buy rating but its price target was cut to $82 from $92 at Deutsche Bank. NIKE was also maintained with an Outperform rating and its price target was cut to $93 from $96 (versus $77.25 close) at Telsey Advisory Group.

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) was cut to Neutral from Outperform with the same $47 price target (versus $40.71 close) at Mizuho.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR) was named the Bear of the Day at Zacks, wondering if this is nearing the bottom of the fertilizer cycle after missing earnings expectations 8 of the last 10 reports.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was maintained as Neutral but its target was trimmed down to $70 from $72 at Mizuho.

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Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $100 price target (versus $81.99 close) at JPMorgan.

Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PARR) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Mizuho.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF) was cut to Underperform from Neutral at Mizuho.

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE: RHI) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform with a $64 price target (versus $76.10 close) at Exane BNP Paribas.

Summit Materials, Inc. (NYSE: SUM) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $515 from $400 (versus $436.23 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm’s bullish upside target was even noted up at $650 based on upside from AI and automation upside.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) was cut to Neutral from Buy and its price target was cut to $140 from $196 (versus $136.71 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ: TER) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $158 from $145 (versus $123.22 close) at JPMorgan.

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE: USPH) was initiated at Market Outperform with a $113 price target at JMP Securities. it was also raised to Buy from Neutral with a $115 price objective at BofA Securities. U.S. Physical Therapy closed down 0.6% at $93.46 and was indicated up 2% at $95.30 on Monday.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $135 from $122 (versus $113.34 close) at Rosenblatt.

Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE: WRBY) was reiterated as Market Outperform and its price target was raised to $28 from $23 (versus $23.63 close) at JMP Securities.

Zillow Group, Inc. (NYSE: Z) was maintained at Market Outperform and its price target raised to $92 from $82 (versus $79.93 close) at JMP Securities.

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