Investing

Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades: Akamai, Baidu, 3M, Plug Power, Roblox & More

Stocks were trading higher on Friday morning with the S&P 500 back above 5,200 and with the Dow Jones Industrial Average now less than 2% from the 40,000 mark. Earnings season is starting to slow down and investors are also awaiting Consumer Sentiment later this morning.

Tactical Bulls is always looking for ideas and research that can benefit both short-term traders and long-term investors. The list of daily analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations are often filled with some of the top movers and outlooks ahead. Many analyst calls are “tactical bull” calls by their nature as the “stocks to buy” may even occur when the stock market or a company’s sector are weak.

Other analyst calls covering their picks of stocks to buy may have very long-term outlooks. The latter “bullish” calls may seem more “permanent” to readers than they do “tactical.” Other analyst calls can also be quite negative as they feature various stocks to sell, which can be tactical or also a long-term negative view.

Investors should always consider that no analyst call should be the sole reason to buy or sell a stock. And daily analyst calls, and the impact from the calls, helps prove one of the Tactical Bulls mantras that the Efficient Market Hypothesis is not accurate in its assumptions.

These are Wall Street’s top analyst upgrades and analyst downgrades for Friday, May 10, 2024.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was last seen down almost 8% at $94.40 after earnings. Akamai was maintained as Overweight but its price target was cut to $119 from $138 at KeyBanc. Susquehanna maintained its positive rating but cut its price target to $1325 from $150. BofA maintained its Buy rating and lowered its price objective to $125 from $145. Akamai was also maintained as Outperform and its target was cut to $120 from $135 at Robert W. Baird.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was maintained as Buy but its price target was lowered to $130 from $140 (versus $110.87 prior close) at Mizuho.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cowen.

Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL) saw its shares rise 11.5% to $11.45 a day earlier after earnings. Bumble was raised to Buy from Neutral with $14 price target at BofA.

3M Company (NYSE: MMM) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $115 (versus $97.33 prior close) at HSBC.

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target was cut $70 from $80 (versus $65.32 prior close) at Stifel.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) was reiterated as Neutral but its target price was lowered to $3.00 from $3.50 at Susquehanna. Plug previously closed up 9.9% at $2.77.

RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAPT) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and its price target was slashed to $4 from $13 at Barclays. RAPT shares closed down 41% at $4.66 the prior day.

Roblox Corporation (NYSE: RBLX) was down 22% at $30.42 after its earnings the day before. Roblox was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $40 from $50 at Benchmark. BTIG kept a Buy rating but cut its target price to $46 from $54. Roblox was maintained as Overweight but its price target was cut to $37 from $50 at Wells Fargo.

SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was down 8.5% at $52.67 a day earlier after earnings. Mizuho kept its Buy rating but lowered its price target to $84 from $104. BofA reiterated its Underperform rating and lowered its price objective to $44 from $54.