6 analyst cuts: Albemarle shares plunge on BofA downgrade | Pro Recap

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By Davit Kirakosyan

Investing.com -- Here is your daily Pro Recap of the biggest analyst cuts you may have missed since yesterday.

Albemarle shares drop on BofA downgrade

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) shares plunged more than 6% yesterday after BofA Securities downgraded the company to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $195.00 from $262.00.

The firm cut its earnings forecast for Albemarle considerably as the tide shifts on price. The new 2024 EPS estimate of $18.40 reflects softer chemical markets and a reversal in spodumene price through the company's JV structure.

Last week, the company submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) by way of a scheme of arrangement for AUD 2.50 ($1.661) per share in cash, valuing the company at AUD 5.2 billion ($3.4B) on an enterprise basis.

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Abbvie downgraded to Hold at Argus

Argus downgraded AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) to Hold from Buy as Humira faces U.S. competition.

Despite the company's efforts to diversify its revenue streams prior to the arrival of biosimilar competition for Humira in the U.S., Argus noted that the product remains responsible for over 40% of its sales. This situation raises the possibility of a substantial decline in revenue and earnings over the coming quarters. During the Q4 conference call, management indicated that it will likely take until 2025 before the company returns to a state of robust sales growth.

The company provided an update to its guidance yesterday after the market close, including the impact of acquired IPR&D and milestones expense of $150 million on a pre-tax basis, representing an unfavorable impact of $0.08 to EPS. For 2023, the company expects adjusted diluted EPS of $10.62 - $11.02 (vs. consensus of $11.07). For Q1/23, EPS is expected to be in the range of $2.31-$2.41.

Shares are down more than 1% pre-market today.

Lumentum downgraded, shares plummet following preliminary Q3 earnings report

Rosenblatt downgraded Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE) to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $48.00 from $77.00

Shares plunged more than 10% pre-market today after the company announced preliminary results for Q3, which is scheduled on May 3.

Revenue is now expected in the range of $380-384M, compared to the company's previous guidance of $430-460M. The Street estimate stands at $444.1M.

Furthermore, the company announced an increase in its share repurchase authorization to an aggregate amount of $1.2B.

3 more downgrades

JPMorgan downgraded Comerica (NYSE:CMA) to Neutral from Overweight and cut its price target to $22.00 from $32.00.

BofA Securities downgraded Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) to Underperform from Buy with a price target of $4.70, noting a potential for revision given relative outperformance.

The company will report its Q1/23 earnings results on May 9. Wall Street analysts expect an EPS of $0.03 and revenue of $997.7M.

JPMorgan downgraded The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) to Neutral from Overweight and cut its price target to $46.00 from $60.00.