4 big analyst cuts: Target downgraded on slowing traffic, declining market share

By Davit Kirakosyan

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst cuts you may have missed since yesterday: downgrades at Target, QuantumScape, UiPath, and First Northwest Bancorp.

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Target downgraded to Neutral at Citi

Citi downgraded Target (NYSE:TGT) to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $130.00 from $177.00, as InvestingPro reported in real time. Shares fell more than 1% in premarket today.

After strong sales growth from 2020 to 2022, the bank believes 2023 is showing that sales have peaked and are likely to fall further, creating a “giveback” situation.

The firm’s Traffic Tracker data for the last week of May and the first week of June revealed slowing traffic, prompting it to exercise caution in the short term.

Considering the competitive landscape, the firm anticipates that Walmart (NYSE:WMT) will continue to gain market share, potentially at the expense of Target. Furthermore, Target's heavy reliance on discretionary sales (55% of sales) may not be favorable given the current macroeconomic conditions.

QuantumScape stock drops on downgrade

QuantumScape Corp (NYSE:QS) shares plunged more than 7% yesterday after Wolfe Research downgraded the company to Underperform from Peerperform with a price target of $2.00, noting that the commercialization path is long and very speculative.

Despite the company advancing potentially cheaper, faster-charging, and more energy-dense battery technologies, Wolfe Research highlighted high uncertainty about the success.

2 more downgrades

Wells Fargo downgraded UiPath Inc (NYSE:PATH) to Equal Weight from Overweight with a price target of $20.00.

Piper Sandler downgraded First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNWB) to Neutral from Overweight and cut its price target to $13.00 from $14.00.

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