4 big analyst cuts: Polestar Automotive slashed at Barclays as demand weakens

By Davit Kirakosyan

Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst cuts you may have missed since yesterday: downgrades at Polestar Automotive, Essex Property Trust, ABM Industries, and Clarivate.

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Polestar Automotive slashed at Barclays

Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ:PSNY) shares dropped more than 8% yesterday after Barclays downgraded the company to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut its price target to $3.00 from $5.00 on demand and capital concerns.

“The largest incremental development since our launch of coverage has been a deterioration of EV demand,” mentioned Barclays. The firm acknowledges Polestar’s reliance on contract manufacturing as a strategic move to sidestep direct price competition by eliminating overhead cost worries, however, the uncertain demand landscape raises concerns about the company’s eventual production levels.

Essex Property Trust cut at Citi

Citi downgraded Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $260.00 from $280.00, as reported in real-time on InvestingPro.

Despite ESS's positive outlook on rent growth and limited new supply in its markets, the bank expects a cautious growth forecast for 2024 in the upcoming Q3 earnings.

Like peers, the company’s rent growth looked slightly weaker to us than expected. Thus, we downgrade to Neutral on balanced risk/reward profile at ESS’ current premium valuation.

More analyst cuts

ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM) received two downgrades following the company’s reported Q3 miss, which resulted in a stock price drop of more than 13% yesterday.

William Blair downgraded the company to Market Perform Outperform.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank downgraded to Hold from Buy and cut its price target to $43.00 from $65.00.

The bank cited disappointing results and guidance, which include a continued downturn due to a weak commercial real estate market in fiscal 2024, ongoing delays in Technical Solutions projects, and the possibility of losing significant business in the manufacturing & distribution sector from a large customer.

Clarivate (NYSE:CLVT) shares fell more than 3% pre-market today after Barclays downgraded the company to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut its price target to $7.00 from $8.00.

We move to Underweight on a litany of shortcomings in the company's three divisions and a lack of urgency to conduct a strategic review.

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