It wasn't a great Friday for some Wall Street favorites. Several top analysts decided to pump the brakes on stocks they'd previously championed, delivering a series of downgrades that sent revised price targets tumbling.
Here's what changed on the analyst front:
Bath & Body Works Gets Hit Twice
Bath & Body Works Inc. (BBWI) had a particularly rough morning, catching downgrades from two separate firms. Baird analyst Mark Altschwager dropped his rating from Outperform to Neutral and slashed his price target from $33 to $19. Not to be outdone, Goldman Sachs analyst Kate McShane made an even bigger cut, downgrading the stock from Buy to Neutral and lowering her target from $39 all the way down to $17. The stock closed Thursday at $15.82, which means even these reduced targets imply some upside—but the enthusiasm has clearly evaporated.
Aecom Loses Its Champion
Baird analyst Andrew Wittmann—who had a busy day—downgraded Aecom (ACM) from Outperform to Neutral, though he kept his $143 price target intact. That's interesting because Aecom shares closed Thursday at $106.14, meaning Wittmann still sees meaningful upside potential. He's just no longer confident enough to rate it a buy. Sometimes neutral doesn't mean pessimistic—it just means the easy money's been made.
Atlas Energy Gets the Sell Rating
Goldman Sachs analyst Ati Modak went further than most, downgrading Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (AESI) from Neutral all the way to Sell. He also cut his price target from $12 to $8. With the stock closing at $8.57 on Thursday, Modak is essentially saying even current levels look too high. Sell ratings are relatively rare on Wall Street, so when they show up, they tend to get attention.
Jacobs Solutions Joins the Downgrade Party
Wittmann also turned his attention to Jacobs Solutions Inc. (J), downgrading it from Outperform to Neutral and cutting his price target from $161 to $146. Jacobs shares closed Thursday at $129.17, so there's still implied upside in that target, but Wittmann clearly thinks the risk-reward profile has shifted.
The common thread? Analysts who were previously bullish on these names are taking a more cautious stance. Whether it's valuation concerns, weakening fundamentals, or simply a recognition that the easy gains have been captured, the message is clear: expectations are being reset.
