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Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades: Apple, Boeing, Capri, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Netflix, Palantir & More

Stocks were indicated higher on Monday after closing up on Friday. Market strategists are predicting over 12% upside on average for the S&P 500 forecast in 2025. Investors need to be positioning for a new regime in Washington D.C., expectations of tariffs, new policies, lower regulations and efforts to cut government spending all at once.

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.

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.

Some analyst calls are just reactionary to earnings and other news. Other analyst calls are preemptive ahead of key events and developments 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.

These are the top analyst initiations, upgrades and downgrades from brokerage firms and independent research firms on Monday, January 6, 2025.

Amplitude, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMPL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $15 from $11 (versus $10.89 close) at Piper Sandler.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy at Argus, but the independent research firm raised its price target to $280 from $250. The call was based on strong services sales and also on positive signs for iPhone sales despite weakness reported in the China market. Apple closed at $243.36 on Friday ahead of the call.

Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) was raised to Overweight from Equal-Weight and its price target was raised to $210 from $190 at Barclays on the heels of Boeing announcing more surprise inspections for quality control at its factories. Boeing closed down 1.1% at $169.90 on Friday but was indicated up 1.8% at $173.00 on Monday’s pre-market indications.

Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE: CPRI) is moving farther away from the time that its Tapestry merger fell apart. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Capri Holdings to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its price target to $31 from $25 in its call.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) was raised to Overweight from Equal-Weight and its price target was raised to $95 from $70 at Barclays. Citi closed at $71.00 ahead of the call and this is even higher than the KBW target hike to $85 from $82 but lower than the target cut to $102 from $110 seen to kick off 2025. Citi was also one of the few screened mid-size large banks still trading under book value last quarter.

Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE: BROS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and its price target was raised to $70 from $60 at Robert W. Baird. Dutch Bros closed at $56.35 ahead of the call on Friday and was indicated up 3.5% at $58.30 on Monday morning. This would put it right back above the 52-week high of $58.10 if it holds.

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Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and its price target was raised to $120 from $100 (versus $97.47 close) at Piper Sandler. Fortinet was indicated up 3.5% at $100.89, just above the prior 52-week high of $100.59.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $610 price target at UBS. Goldman Sachs closed up 0.9% at $580.13 on Friday and its recent high is $612.73.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) was reiterated as Overweight and its price target was raised to $520 from $470 at Piper Sandler. The upgrade is after Microsoft’s announced plans to spend over $80 billion building out new AI data centers. Microsoft closed at $423.35 ahead of the call and was recently screened as having more implied upside than some of its Magnificent Seven peers in 2025.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $1,040 from $840 at Argus. The independent research firm believes management continues to reaccelerate revenue growth after making changes to reaccelerate subscriber additions with a lower-priced ad-supported subscriber plan, enhancing its value proposition to customers, and cracking down on password sharing.

Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NYSEL PLTR) was started with an Underweight rating and was assigned a $60 price target (versus $79.89 close) at Morgan Stanley. The firm noted that commercial traction and its AIP product cycle drove the multiple re-rating for the stock and its government segment and operating expense discipline drove upside to its estimates — but Morgan Stanley sees its success after strong execution and momentum being more than priced in at the current multiple premium.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and its price target was raised to $174 from $169 at Leerink. Quest Diagnostics closed up 0.6% at $151.92 and was indicated up almost 1% more at $153.30 on Monday. Its 52-week range is $123.04 to $165.32.

ServiceTitan, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTAN) priced its IPO at $71 last month and has traded in a range of $94.02 to $112.00 since, and last closed at $105.79. The quiet period has ended and analysts are issuing their new coverage, noting that more calls will be coming this week. These new ratings are here:

  • Canaccord Genuity (Buy) with a $120 target
  • Goldman Sachs (Neutral) with a $100 target
  • KeBanc (Overweight) with a $120 target
  • Morgan Stanley (Equal-Weight) with a $104 target
  • Needham (Buy) with a $125 target
  • Piper Sandler (Overweight) with a $125 target
  • Robert W. Bard (Outperform) with a $117 target (December call, non-underwriter)
  • Stifel (Buy) with a $120 target
  • Truist (Buy) with a $120 target

T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) was downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight and its price target was cut to $220 from $240 at Wells Fargo. T-Mobile shares closed at $219.11 on Friday ahead of the call and it was indicated down about 1.5% at $215.85 ahead of Monday’s open.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) was reiterated with an Overweight rating and its price target was raised to $208 from $185 at Piper Sandler. Snowflake closed up about 3% at $162.22 on Friday and its 52-week range is $107.13 to $237.72.

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Some additional calls have been seen below for Monday as well.

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEIS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $138 from $110 (versus $118.57 close) at Citigroup.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

BHP Group Limited (NYSE: BHP) was maintained as Hold but its target was cut to $53 from $57 (versus $48.81 close) at Jefferies.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR) was named the Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $145 price objective at BofA Securities.

DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ: DASH) was named the Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) was maintained as Buy but its target as cut to $48 from $60 (versus $37.71 close) at Jefferies.

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC) was raised to Buy from Underperform and its price objective was raised to $84 from $69 (versus $69.09 close) at BofA Securities.

FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its target was raised to $51 from $44 (versus $44.46 close) at Citigroup.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $393 target (versus $333.09 close) at UBS.

Qiagen N.V. (NYSE: QGEN) was downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) was maintained as Buy but its target was cut to $73 from $83 (versus $58.60 close) at Jefferies.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was reiterated as Buy and its price target as raised to $315 from $290 (versus $282.79 close) at Argus.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) was maintained as Buy but its target was cut to $11 from $14 (versus $8.63 close) at Jefferies.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $33 target (versus $27.16 close) at Citigroup