The S&P 500 was looking to challenge new all-time highs on Friday after the U.S. and China have both confirmed reaching a trade deal. It has been a bumpy 2025 with all of the noise from tariffs, geopolitical risks, a slowing economy and bumpy U.S. politics. Investors now have to decide how they want to be positioned looking forward — is it time to stay put and ride out the rest of 2025, or is it time to look for tactical opportunities and new ideas as 2026 comes into focus.

Tactical Bulls reviews the daily Wall Street analyst upgrades and downgrades to find new ideas that might have otherwise been overlooked or missed. The goal is to find some of those new ideas and diamonds in the rough for long-term investors and short-term traders alike.

Analysts are making some bold predictions on some of the top companies ahead of earnings season. There are also some very speculative companies which are being assigned massive upside ahead if the analysts hit their mark. Many stocks are now predicted to hit new all-time highs — and then some!

Investors should always keep in mind that no single analyst report should ever be the sole basis to buy or sell a stock. This is particularly true for aggressive “Buy” and “Outperform” ratings in speculative stocks. Investors also need to do their own research because analysts sometimes get their thesis wrong just like the rest of us. And any decision to buy or sell should be made after consulting with a financial advisor or professional.

Please read the disclaimer below for suitability before even considering any of these analyst ratings. Here are the top analyst upgrades and upside targets (and a couple downgrades) issued by Wall Street on Friday, June 27, 2025.

A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ATEN) was initiated with a Buy rating and assigned a $22 price target (versus $19.06 prior close) at Deutsche Bank. The firm sees A10 in a unique position with consistent revenue growth, high gross margins and high EBITDA and cash flow all supporting stock buybacks and dividends.

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) has surged in the last two days since earnings, rising 15.9% to $272.37 on Thursday alone (and indicated up 3% at $281.00 on Friday). BTIG reiterated its Buy rating but raised its price target to $300 from $225, noting a strong and stable backlog and ramping demand ahead.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was raised to Market Outperform from Market Perform and its price target was maintained at $220 at Citizens/JMP. Alphabet closed up 1.7% at $173.54 on Thursday and was indicated up 0.25% at $174.00 on Friday.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $99 from $80 at HSBC, noting that Estee Lauder has faced a long period of investors not caring despite a likely end to its earnings downgrades. Estee Lauder closed at $79.03 ahead of the call, and it has a 52-week range of $48.37 to $110.19. This was a $300-plus stock back in 2021.

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JBS N.V. (NYSE: JBS) was initiated with an Outperform rating and was assigned a $20 price target at BMO Capital Markets. JBS closed up 6% at $14.76 on Thursday and was indicated up 3% at $15.25 on Friday morning. Other analysts have issued similar bullish calls on this top Brazilian meat packer after its US trading debut that is also among the world’s largest meat companies.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) was reiterated as Buy with a $350 price target (versus $285.63 prior close) at UBS. The firm maintains that McDonald’s stock is attractive after a 15% pullback in the stock, with somewhat limited downside despite consumer pressure potentially lingering.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) was reiterated as Overweight at Piper Sandler, and the firm hiked its price target to $808 from $650 (versus $726.09 close). Meta’s higher target ahead of earnings focuses on its AI investments transforming its ad-tech and driving up key internal metrics.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was the big post-earnings and China-trade deal winner on Friday, rising 10% to $69.25 in early trading indications on Friday. BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and hiked its price objective to $84 from $80, noting that the worst is behind the company now. Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating but raised its price target to $68 from $57. HSBC raised its rating on Nike to Buy from Hold and raised its target price to $80 from $60. JPMorgan maintained its Neutral rating but raised its target to $64 from $56. Needham also reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target to $78 from $66. UBS maintained its Neutral rating but raised its price target to $63 from $56.

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) was reiterated as Buy with a $170 price target (versus $141.01 close) at Argus. The independent research firm has said that its recent stock weakness offers a buying opportunity after the earnings disappointment. The firm’s take is that Paychex’ business is fine and management is targeting high-single-digit growth after closing on another acquisition. It was also said to be favorably valued at the present price and double-digit dividend increases are expected.

The Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) closed down 2.5% at $68.02 after an analyst downgrade on Thursday, but Trade Desk was raised to Outperform from In-Line and its $90 price target was maintained at Evercore ISI.

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Ride-hailing leaders were given a cautious note in assumed coverage at Canaccord Genuity, noting that a scenario of the best days behind it leaves an unclear outlook — even as growth is likely to continue near-term. Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target as cut to $14 from $22 (versus $15.85 close) at Canaccord Genuity. Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBBER) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and its price target as cut to $84 from $90 (versus $93.12 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Micron, Microsoft, SanDisk and multiple other tactical calls.