Notable Upgrades and Downgrades for the week of August 16th

This was a volatile week on Wall Street.  The major indexes ticked lower for the week amid concerns that the Fed will soon start to taper its emergency $120 billion a month bond-buying program.  

“The recent bout of market angst seems to be a combination of investor vertigo, looking for an excuse to take profits, and the bumpy path of reopening the economy, with new virus variants on the rise,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, said in a note.  

 Stock analysts can provide valuable stock analysis insight and insight into the sentiment around a certain stock or sector and shed some light on what is possible or likely for a stock.  Stirring in the analyst community can sometimes be early signs of stock movement, which is why our team reviews dozens of analyst research reports each and every day with the goal of finding new investment ideas for our readers. 

Of the hundreds of reports, we reference weekly, some stand out among the others for various reasons.  Our team has sifted through this week’s reports and whittled it down to the most pertinent news for you.   

Here is a list of notable upgrades, downgrades, and initiations for the week of August 16th. 

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Tuesday, August 17th

• Automatic Data Processing (ADP): JPMorgan downgraded ADP from Neutral to Underweight and announced a $224 price target.  The consensus median price target is $215 and the consensus recommendation is to Hold ADP stock.  

• Viacom (VIAC): Wells Fargo’s Steven Cahall upgraded VIAC from equal weight to overweight amid optimism about the company’s streaming momentum, upcoming content slate, and attractiveness in a rapidly consolidating media landscape.  He boosted his price target from $45 to $60.  The consensus price target for VIAC is $50 and the recommendation from $26 polled investors is to Buy VIAC stock. 

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Wednesday, August 18th

• Canadian Solar (CSIQ): Canadian Solar was downgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a Buy to a Sell rating in a research report issued to clients and investors.  They presently have a $18 price target on the solar energy provider’s stock.  The median 12-month price target for CSIQ is $51.50.  

• Wendy’s (WEN): Oppenheimer upgrades Wendy’s to an Outperform rating from Market Perform and raised their price target to $29.  Analyst Brian Bittner says Wendy’s has catalysts in play with powerful tools to unlock growth starting in 2022.  The median price target for WEN is $27 and the current recommendation among 28 polled analysts is to Buy Wendy’s stock. 

Thursday, August 19th

• Weibo (WB): Credit Suisse upgraded Weibo from neutral to outperform and raised their 12-month price target from $46. 20 to $57, indicating a 21.4% upside from the stock’s current level.  The 16 analysts offering a 12-month price target for WB stock have a median target of $60 and the current consensus among 15 analysts polled is to Buy Weibo.  

• Nvidia (NVDA): Summit Insights analyst Kinngai Chan downgraded NVDA to Sell from Hold based on the company’s October outlook.  The analyst suggests Nvidia’s exposure to the crypto-mining market exceeded $1 billion and could be close to the $1.5 billion range in the July quarter.  The company will see the adverse effects of crypto market demand decline in the January quarter, according to Chan.  The analyst believes there could be a $500 million – $1 billion downside in Nvidia’s gaming sales in the January quarter.   

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