Analyst Upgrades: Apple Inc., First Solar, Inc., and Starbucks Corporation

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Josh Selway

Jan 22, 2016 at 9:21 AM

Analysts are weighing in on tech blue chip Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), energy concern First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), and coffee giant Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AAPL, FSLR, and SBUX.

AAPL is up 2% in electronic trade, following a zealous note from Piper Jaffray. The brokerage firm posited the stock could add over 50% in the coming months, by the September release of the iPhone 7, while adding the shares' "valuation is attractive." This is likely music to the ears of shareholders, especially after the bleak iPhone reports earlier in the month. Even though Apple Inc. has dropped over 22% since its November high of $123.82 to trade at $96.30, call buyers have stayed the course. AAPL's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) comes in at 1.77. Elsewhere, the firm is scheduled to report earnings next Tuesday evening.

Thanks to a price-target bump to $90 from $71 at Barclays, FSLR is looking at a 3.7% surge when the market opens. At $63.23, the stock has continually found support at its 10-week moving average in recent months, as it's outpaced the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 38.6 percentage points during the past 12 weeks. First Solar, Inc. could race to even higher highs, too, if short sellers continue to hit the road. Specifically, short interest dropped by over 8% during the two most recent reporting periods.

On the flip side, SBUX is pointed 2.4% lower ahead of the open. Although the coffee brewer topped Wall Street's earnings expectations, its current-quarter outlook disappointed. The shares have trailed off in recent months, but still boast a 33.8% year-over-year lead, settling at $59.03 on Thursday. And, apparently, some analysts still have high hopes for Starbucks Corporation. Barclays raised its price target by $3 to $62 this morning, while the stock's average 12-month price target comes in at $68.23 -- all-time-high territory.

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