Icon downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan

JPMorgan downgraded Icon (ICLR) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $150, down from $265. The firm cites limited visibility in near-term end market improvement heading into Q1 earnings for the downgrade. Results from JPMorgan’s recent clinical contract research organization survey point to a more uncertain forward looking market backdrop in both large pharma and Smid-cap biotech, with 67% of large pharma respondents and 80% SMID biotech respondents indicating that their budgets are either “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to see cuts over the next 6-12 months, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan adds that intra-quarter headlines around the choppy macro environment, pharma tariffs, volatile biotech funding and turnover at the FDA “have also driven caution on the set-up for the rest of the year.”