Stocks were looking for direction on Thursday after inflation data has come in higher than expected. Many investors are fine-tuning portfolios for trading and investing in 2025. This is where the daily flow of analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations can come into play for new ideas.

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Analyst reports can be a source of new ideas for short-term tactical traders with live price reactions on the spot for immediate and short-term views. And with the analysts offering a one-year outlook in general, the upgraded and downgrades can offer long-term perspectives for investors looking months or years into the future.

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Tactical Bulls always reminds its readers that no single analyst report should ever be used as the sole basis to buy or sell a stock. After all, analysts can be wrong or the larger backdrop can change on a moments notice.

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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Thursday, February 13, 2025.

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AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP) was last seen trading up 28% at $488.00 after earnings for a new all-time high. AppLovin was reiterated as Buy and its price objective was raised to $580 from $375 at BofA Securities. Morgan Stanley maintained its Equal-Weight rating and raised its target to $470 from $365 in its call.

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AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

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AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) was reiterated at Buy with price target raised to $233 from $200 at Argus.

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Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) closed at $62.53 and was last seen up almost 6% at $66.25 after earnings. Cisco Systems was reiterated at Overweight with $68 target at Morgan Stanley and was reiterated at Hold with $72 target at Wells Fargo. Cisco was reiterated at Equal Weight and its price target was raised to $61 from $576 at Barclays.

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CVS Health Corporation (NYSE: CVS) closed up almost 15% at $63.22 on Wednesday after earnings. CVS was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and its price target was raised to $75 from $55 at Leerink Partners.

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DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (NYSE: DD) was raised to Equal-Weight from Underweight at Barclays.

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Dutch Bros. Inc. (NYSE: BROS) closed up 0.8% at $64.71 on Wednesday but was last seen up a sharp 24% at $80.25 after earnings grew more than expected. Dutch Bros. was reiterated at Outperform with its price target raised to $100 from $65 at Wedbush and was reiterated as Buy with its price target raised to $89 from $65 at TD Securities.

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Ecopetrol S.A.(NYSE: EC) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

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Fluence Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLNC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with its price target cut to $8 from $20 at BofA Securities. Fluence closed down 6.7% at $6.53 on Wednesday.

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GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) was started as Outperform with a $448 price target (versus $369.65 prior close) at Baird.

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HIVE Digital Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: HIVE) was reiterated as Buy and saw its price target raised to $10 from $8 (versus $2.75 close) at HC Wainwright & Co.

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HubSpot, Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was last seen up 0ver 6% at $835.00 after earnings. Hubspot was reiterated at Buy with its price target raised to $900 from $710 at Canaccord Genuity; was reiterated at Neutral with its price target raised to $808 from $640 at Piper Sandler. Hubspot was reiterated as Outperform with its price target raised to $900 from $850 at Oppenheimer; was reiterated at Overweight with price target raised to $898 from $835 at Morgan Stanley.

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Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ) was raised to Overweight from Equal-Weight with its price target raised to $170 from $130 (versus $135.44 close) at Wells Fargo.

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The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy with its price target cut to $30 from $36 (versus $28.63 close) at BofA Securities.

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Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) was reiterated as Buy and saw its price target raised to $335 from $330 (versus $290.45 close) at Argus, noting the post-earnings selloff from about $305 was too harsh.

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Merus N.V. (NASDAQ: MERS) was initiated with an Overweight rating with a $84 price target (versus $40.26 prior close) at Piper Sandler.

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Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

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Olin Corporation (NYSE: OLN) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler.

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Reddit, Inc. (NASDAQ: RDDT) was last seen down 8% at $199.00 in its post-earnings reaction. Needham reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $220 from $190. Reddit was reiterated at Overweight with its price target raised to $210 from $200 at Morgan Stanley. BofA reiterated its Neutral rating but lifted its price target to $190 from $180.

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Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. Barclays maintained its Overweight rating but trimmed its target to $80 from $83. It closed at $65.83 ahead of the calls.

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Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target raised to $90 from $64 at Morgan Stanley. Robinhood closed up 4.8% at $55.91 ahead of earnings and was trading up 13% at $63.25 after the report on Thursday morning.

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The Trade Desk, inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) was last seen trading down 29% at $86.50 on a very disappointing earnings growth report from the macro environment. Trade Desk saw many cuts on Thursday: was cut to In-Line from Outperform with price target cut to $90 from $135 at Evercore ISI Group; was reiterated at Buy with $145 target at Needham; was reiterated at Overweight with price target cut to $132 from $145 at Morgan Stanley; was reiterated at Outperform with price target cut to $115 from $160 at BMO Capital Markets.

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Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX) was initiated as Sector Outperform with a $102 price target (versus $29.32 close) at Scotiabank.

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Vista Energy, SAB (NYSE: VIST) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $66 price target (versus $50.71 close) at Citigroup.

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