There is a hard cold reality that investors have to admit sometimes. It’s harder to hold on to equities when the leaders and many of the popular stocks become laggards. Tactical Bulls has not seen waves of analyst downgrades on popular stocks after earnings season, but a common and concerning theme has emerged — analysts are maintaining positive ratings while aggressively slashing their upside price targets after earnings reports!

Many of the earnings reports are coming in on what might otherwise be a “good enough” report and even “good enough” on their guidance. At issue is that many stocks had already run higher into 2025 and valuations in certain key names have become much harder to justify.

In just the last week, Tactical Bulls has identified many popular stocks where Wall Street analysts maintained their Buy/Outperform ratings but handily cut their prior price targets. Some of these price target cuts have been in the 10% to 20% range, and some targets have been slashed even more.

Some investors will wonder if this is just a normalization to prior expectations in a bull market. Other investors may wonder if this is the “downgrade-light” calls by analysts before they officially throw in the towel and take ratings down to Neutral and Hold — or even to Sell and Underperform.

These analyst calls have been seen in just the last week with Wall Street firms maintaining positive ratings and seeing severe price target cuts. All ratings and targets have been assigned to the firms issuing their calls. Please note that Tactical Bulls does not maintain its own formal ratings nor does it issue formal price targets on these stocks.

Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) is now down well over 50% from its high after the cracks in the Bitcoin and crypto markets crushed the companies that mine and are using blockchain. Bitdeer was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $18 from $22 at Needham. The stock was last seen at $11.50, but it had closed as low as $10.25. Bitdeer was at $15 just a week earlier and having hit $25 right at the start of 2025.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was maintained at Buy with price target cut to $285 from $360 at UBS; was maintained at Overweight with price target cut to $230 from $250 at Piper Sandler; maintained at Outperform with price target cut to $251 from $280 as RBC Capital Markets; maintained as Buy with price target cut to $304 from $335 at Guggenheim; and maintained as Overweight with price target cut to $238 from $297 at Morgan Stanley. First Solar was most recently seen down almost 5% at $149.00, but this was a $165 stock a week earlier and it was a $195 stock back in mid-January. First Solar was close to $215 right before the election.

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Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) was maintained at Buy with price target cut to $4 from $8 at Stifel. While this stock was recently seen at $1.65, that’s down from $2.35 three days earlier and down from $3.50 at the start of 2025. Barclays also kept its Overweight rating but slashed its target to $4 from $9 in its call — pairing the slowdown seen over the last two months with a positive stock risk/reward at current prices.

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) was kept with negative ratings by most firms after earnings. The stock recently fell from $15.75 to $11.00 after the report. Grocery Outlet’s one remaining bull is Wells Fargo, but while it maintained its Overweight rating the firm’s price target was cut to $18 from $23. Goldman Sachs does not have a positive rating, and it slashed its target to $11 from $14 on a valuation adjustment and Neutral rating.

Health Catalyst, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCAT) was an earnings disappointment despite the CEO quote starting off as the health data and analytics provider having “achieved strong performance across our business.” The stock fell 20% to $3.90 after a $4.94 close ahead of the report, down from a 52-week high of $9.24. HCAT was maintained as Buy but its price target was cut to $10 from $13 at BTIG — with the analyst noting the reduced stock price and reduced price target reflect near-term lumpiness in its gross margins and other concerns that the company is in a grind.

Krispy Kreme, Inc. (NASDAQ: DNUT) is far from essential food and far from being healthy. Donut eaters either decided to hold on to their money or decided to eat healthier because the stock fell to $6.00 from over $9.00 in the wake of its earnings reaction. Krispy Kreme was maintained as Overweight and its price target was slashed to $12 from $18 at Piper Sandler. And for more of a “less than positive reality check” — it was also downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight with its price target cut to $6 from $12 at Morgan Stanley.

Lumen Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: LUMN) had been on fire with its fiber and communications/networking orders from datacenter and AI-datacenters all needing an upgrade. It ran from $6 to $10 in late-2024, but it has been sliding back to normalized levels closer to $4.60 recently. Citigroup raised Lumen to Buy from Neutral this week, but the firm’s price target was cut to $6.50 from $8 in the call despite issuing a “90-day positive catalyst watch” on this rating. Citi sees 4 potentially positive catalysts for Lumen and it noted that the recent stock selloff creates a favorable risk/reward profile.

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAX) had a rough time with earnings. The stock fell to $9 from $11.25 in the process, and its new 52-week range is now $8.66 to $25.78. That’s a downward spiral for sure for a company that helps insurance carriers and distributors acquire new customers and maximize revenue. MediaAlpha was maintained with a Buy rating but its price target was cut to $14 from $23 at Goldman Sachs. It was also maintained as Outperform with a more modest price target cut to $19 from $22 at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

RxSight, Inc. (NASDAQ: RXST) has been in a steady slide from the last six months, falling from $55 down to about $28 of late. That’s half its value lost for a company with light adjustable intraocular lenses that are used in cataract surgery. RxSight was maintained as Overweight but its price target was slashed down to $40 from $62 at JPMorgan. BTIG also maintained its But raying while cutting its target to $44 from $58. BTIG questions whether or not RxSight can see healthy utilization on its large install base despite a low penetration among a larger physician population.

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Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) had been down more, but the post-earnings reaction was down 2% at $30050 on last look after its earnings and guidance disappointed on what may be a GenAI hangover. Sales force saw multiple target cuts:

• maintained Buy but price objective cut to $400 from $440 at BofA;
• maintained Outperform but target cut to $400 from $430 at Baird;
• maintained Outperform but target cut to $380 from $415 at Oppenheimer;
• and maintained Buy at Stifel but target cut to $375 from $425.

Wells Fargo also maintained its Equal-Weight rating on Salesforce but still cut its price target down to $310 from $345.

Sempra (NYSE: SRE) had been a darling of 2024 rising to $95 from $70, but a $56 billion capital spending plan from growth in Texas and the earnings reaction this week took shares down from $87 to under $70 before recently clawing back up to $72.25. Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating but its price target was cut to $85 from $100; and it was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with its price target cut to $78 from $95 in a much more cautious call at UBS.

Shoals Technologies Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS) has had a tough 2025 as it provides electrical balance of system solutions and components for solar, battery energy, and electric vehicle charging. It was over $6 at the start of 2025, but even after falling to $4.50 it fell down to almost $3.50 after earnings. Shoals was maintained as Buy with price target cut to $7 from $8 at UBS, while Piper Sandler maintained its Overweight rating with a price target cut to $6 from $8. Shoals was maintained as Buy with a price target cut to $7 from $8 at Goldman Sachs and RBC maintained its Outperform rating but cut its price target down to $7 from $9.

Sprout Social, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT) may be involved in social media, but what was a $33 stock earlier in February was most recently a $28 stock. And its 52-week range is $25.05 to $64.91. Multiple firms have slashed target prices but haven’t thrown in the towel on the ratings:

• Barclays (Overweight) target cut to $34 from $38;
• Canaccord Genuity (Buy) target cut to $35 from $40;
• Needham (Buy) target cut to $32 from $55;
• Stifel (Buy) target cut to $$34 from $45;
• and Morgan Stanley, Piper Sandler and Goldman Sachs all cut targets with more Neutral ratings.

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE: TROX) has been floundering in 2025 despite being a vertically integrated leader in titanium dioxide for paints, coatings, plastics, paper coatings and other applications. After earnings in mid-February took the stock from $9.80 to under $8.00, multiple firms stuck with their positive ratings while throwing in the proverbial towel on price target expectations. Tronox was maintained as Buy with its price target cut to $11.50 from $13 at Goldman Sachs. Truist Securities maintained its Buy rating but cut its target to $14 from $17, and UBS maintained a Buy rating while cutting its target to $15 from $16.

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Again, all price targets and formal ratings noted above were issued by the firms who made their reports and calls. Tactical Bulls does not maintain any formal ratings or price targets on any of these stocks.