7 analyst cuts of the day: Fox cut down at BofA

By Davit Kirakosyan

Investing.com — Here is your daily Pro Recap of the biggest analyst downgrades and sell initiations you may have missed since yesterday.

Fox cut to Neutral from Buy at BofA

BofA Securities downgraded Fox (NASDAQ:) to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $34.00 from $42.00.

Shares were down more than 2% yesterday.

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Medtronic initiated at Sell

A new analyst at UBS assumed coverage on Medtronic (NYSE:) with a Sell rating and $79 price target, noting it lacks conviction that the company can return to sustainable mid-single-digit top-line growth and drive consistent operating margin upside, despite the company’s ongoing transformation.

CFRA initiates XPeng with a Sell rating, expects relatively small players to face difficulties

CFRA initiated coverage on Xpeng (NYSE:) with a Sell rating and a price target of $8.00.

While the firm expects XPeng’s revenue momentum to sustain, driven by rising demand for electric vehicles, it believes competition will rise aggressively in the next 2-3 years, given more traditional brands (e.g., Toyota, Volkswagen, and Ford) are rapidly rolling out their respective EV models, as well as threats from well-established Chinese EV brands (e.g., Li Auto, BYD, and Geely).

“We expect relatively small players like XPeng to face difficulties in expanding market share organically after the pent-up demand tapers. This becomes additionally challenging as industry peers are cutting prices to boost sales volume,” said the firm.

Ciena downgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded Ciena (NYSE:) to Equalweight from Overweight and cut its price target to $57.00 from $59.00.

Meanwhile, Raymond James upgraded the stock to Strong Buy on the expected new market entry. Shares rose more than 4% yesterday.

3 more downgrades

Société Générale downgraded Merck (NYSE:) to Hold from Buy.

BofA Securities downgraded iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:) to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $4.00 from $6.50. Shares plunged more than 11% yesterday.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Delek US Energy (NYSE:) to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $24.00 from $36.00.