Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades Ahead of Earnings

U.S. stocks were down marginally on Thursday morning, ahead of earnings season. Some investors decided to rotate out of some of 2024’s biggest winners. The drop felt like a bit of summer profit taking ahead of earnings as the slight drop in inflation should have given at least some cover to equity buyers. Still, stocks are at all-time highs so that has to be taken into consideration when earnings expectations will be so high.

These were some of the biggest analyst calls impacting stocks on Thursday, January 11, 2024.

ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) was reiterated as Positive and its target price was raised to $1,300 from $1,200 at Susquehanna. ASML was last seen down almost 2% at $1080.00 after having initially opened higher.

Albermarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was given a capitulation downgrade as Wells Fargo cut the lithium leader to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed its target down to $100 from $145. Albermarle shares were actually up by almost 2% at $98.50 after the call and its 52-week range is $90.32 to $246.00.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy and its price objective was raised to $256 from $230 at BofA Securities. Apple was also reiterated as Outperform with a $275 price target by Wedbush Securities.

Broadcom Inc. NASDAQ: AVGO) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised up to $2,400 from $1,650 at Rosenblatt. Broadcom had been higher but the stock was last seen down almost 2% at $1710.00.

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Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) was originally higher on the news that it was increasing its membership fee, but the shares were down 3% at $860.00 in early morning trading on Thursday. Stifel reiterated its Buy and raised its target to $950 from $900, and BofA Securities reiterated its Buy and raised its price objective to $962 from $874. Robert W. Baird reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $975 from $850.

Digital Realty Tus, Inc. NYSE: DLR) is set to be a cloud and hosting winner as Mizuho started it was Outperform with a $170 target price. Digital Realty was indicated up 2% at $159.00 after the analyst call.

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) was also slated as a cloud and hosting winner as Mizuho started coverage with an Outperform rating and assigned a $873 target price. Equinix was last seen up over 2% at $795.00 after the call.

Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ: PI) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $180 from $150 at Piper Sandler. Impinj was last seen up 2% at $166.00 after the call.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $130 target price (versus $100.00 prior close) at Guggenheim. Itron’s 52-week range is $56.11 to $111.00.

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ: MCHP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ON) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $220 from $192 at Truist. Republic Services was last seen up 0.5% at $198.00 after the call.

Spotify Technology S.A. was assumed with a Buy in new coverage at Jefferies, up from a prior Hold rating. The new target is $385.00 versus a prior analyst target of $242. Spotify shares were last seen down 1% at $302.00 on Thursday morning. Technology Coverage Assumed by Jefferies at Buy vs Previous Rating of Hold

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM) was reiterated as Positive and its target price was raised to $250 from $200 at Susquehanna. Taiwan Semi shares were last seen down almost 2% at $187.50 on Thursday.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in shares of Agilent, Albermarle, Apple, Netflix, Meta, Spotify, Tesla, Visa and many more.