SolarEdge's wave of downgrades; Estee Lauder cut at 2 firms: 5 big analyst cuts

Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst cuts you may have missed since yesterday: downgrades at SolarEdge Technologies, Estee Lauder , Confluent , and Hess.

InvestingPro subscribers got this news first. Never miss another market-moving headline.

SolarEdge receives several downgrades after a Q3 miss

Following worse-than-expected Q3 results, SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) has been hit with a wave of downgrades from Wall Street analysts, as reported in real time on InvestingPro. Shares were recently trading more than 10% lower.

BMO Capital, for one, downgraded the company to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $68.00. The analysts acknowledge the ongoing growth potential of distributed solar generation in both Europe and the U.S., but still recognize that the base level of demand in 2022 is not the correct starting point.

“We previously saw merit and value in looking past a 2023 air pocket in demand for SEDG," wrote BMO. "However, its updated view of normalized gross and operating margins during today’s earnings call disappointed, causing us to move to the sidelines."

The company was also cut to neutral-equivalent ratings at Citi, Truist Securities, Guggenheim, and Exane BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY).

Shares were recently trading at $67.76.

Estee Lauder hit with two downgrades following guidance cut

Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) received two downgrades today after reporting its Q1 results and lowering its full-year outlook on Asia headwinds, after which shares lost nearly 19% Wednesday.

RBC Capital slashed the company to Sector Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $115.00 from $195.00, writing that the company's significant guidance reduction was disappointing despite a better-than-expected Q1.

RBC had initially thought the company had accounted for the negative trends in China when it provided guidance last quarter, but said that this had turned out to be a misjudgment. The analysts added, “While we gave management the benefit of the doubt on having a handle on the situation, there are simply too many headwinds and not enough visibility at this time for us to believe in the 2H growth story."

Meanwhile, Telsey downgraded the company to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $115.00 from $210.00.

Shares were partially recovering from Wednesday's slump, gaining about 8% to $113.01.

Moderna cut to Sell at Deutsche

Deutsche Bank downgraded Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) to Sell from Hold with a price target of $125.00 (from $200.00) after the biotech's disappointing Q3.

The analyst wrote that this latest earnings print constituted "another tough update, with the P&L management remaining a headwind and incredibly a further R&D increase despite the headwinds on revenue and gross margin."

The analysts also believe the 2024-2025 guidance "confirms we are looking at another couple of years of heavy cash burn."

Shares were plummeting 8.7% to $69.61.

Two more downgrades

BofA Securities downgraded Confluent (NASDAQ:CFLT) to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $24.00 (from $38.00). Shares were in free fall Thursday, down more than 40% to $15.84 after the company reported its Q3 results and provided soft guidance.

Bernstein downgraded Hess (NYSE:HES) to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its price target to $166.00 from $189.00.

***

Amid whipsaw markets and a slew of critical headlines, seize on the right timing to protect your profits: Always be the first to know with InvestingPro.