More Earnings Surprises: Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Best Buy, Home Depot and More

Markets were fairly mixed to start Wednesday, after a fairly strong showing at the start of the week. Out of the major averages, the Dow Jones industrials were the only one with a gain, up 0.2%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were each down 0.2%.

A strong start to the third-quarter earnings reporting season pushed stocks higher to begin the week. Netflix was the big earnings winner, notching subscriber growth of more than 2.4 million, and in response shares were up about 14% on the day on last look. This is a much-needed win for Netflix, as the stock is still down about 50% year to date.

Bank earnings at the start of the week spurred optimism but it has yet to be seen if this can hold up over the course of the whole season.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Johnson & Johnson, Match, Netflix, Walmart and more.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In-Line from Outperform and cut the $185 price target to $180. The 52-week trading range is $154.46 to $244.55, and the share price was near $173 on Wednesday.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY): Evercore ISI’s downgrade to In-Line from Outperform included a price target cut to $70 from $80. The stock was last seen trading near $65, in a 52-week range of $60.79 to $141.97.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (NYSE: BAH): Raymond James lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform. Shares have traded as high as $101.07 in the past year but were changing hands near $99 on Wednesday.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Morgan Stanley’s Equal Weight rating rose to Overweight, but the analyst trimmed the $149 price target to $147. The shares traded near $128 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $80.67 to $147.99.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX): Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and cut its $250 price target to $161. The stock traded near $160 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $156.74 to $300.11.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): The Exane BNP Paribas downgrade was from Outperform to Neutral with a $286 price target. The 52-week trading range is $264.51 to $420.61. Shares changed hands near $278 apiece on Wednesday.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT): Robert Baird boosted its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $513 price target. Shares were last seen trading near $442. The 52-week range is $324.23 to $479.99.

Lowe’s Corp. Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and has a $159 price target. Evercore ISI’s downgrade was to In-Line from Outperform, and it cut its $220 price target to $210. The 52-week trading range is $170.12 to $263.31. Shares changed hands near $184 apiece on Wednesday.

Petco Health and Wellness Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: WOOF): Evercore ISI’s Outperform rating dropped to In-Line, and its $15 price target was reduced to $12. Shares traded near $10 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $9.93 to $26.21.

Real estate investment trusts tend to survive in rising-rate environments. Seven top REIT stocks also pay dependable and substantial dividends and are offering enticing entry points, due to the large-scale selling across Wall Street this year.

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