Teradyne, APD, CAT, ELF, MGM Trending With Analysts

Analysts are intrested in these 5 stocks: ( (TER) ), ( (APD) ), ( (CAT) ), ( (ELF) ) and ( (MGM) ). Here is a breakdown of their recent ratings and the rationale behind them.

Teradyne is suddenly back on the radar after a sharp post‑earnings sell‑off, and analysts now see that as an opportunity rather than a warning sign. Samik Chatterjee has upgraded TER to Buy, arguing that choppy orders for chip‑testing equipment mask powerful long‑term drivers tied to AI, including merchant GPU tests, custom ASICs, memory and optical networking demand.

Chatterjee believes Teradyne is shifting from a cyclical test supplier to a core platform for AI infrastructure, with multiple new revenue streams supporting strong earnings growth. His forecasts call for earnings to jump 80% in 2026 and 40% in both 2027 and 2028, backing a rich but, in his view, justified valuation range of 35x‑40x earnings and a maintained $400 price target.

Air Products and Chemicals is also regaining favor as it emerges from years of mega‑project headaches and investor skepticism. John Mcnulty has upgraded APD to Buy, saying management has “cleaned house” by cutting costs, exiting or derisking troubled projects in Alberta, China and World Energy, and lining up better‑structured ventures such as its partnership with Yara on green ammonia.

With core pricing improving, helium markets turning “less bad,” and volumes showing signs of life, Mcnulty sees the risk‑reward skewing positively for the industrial‑gas giant. He argues that APD’s newly disciplined capital allocation plus a pipeline of long‑term contracts should support earnings above company targets for 2026 and likely 2027, and he lifts his price target to $360 based on a higher earnings multiple.

Caterpillar, long viewed warily by some because of macro risks and construction cyclicality, is winning back at least partial support on Wall Street. Angel Castillo has moved CAT up from Underweight to Hold after a powerful first‑quarter beat, driven by much stronger than expected performance in the Construction Industries unit and a record $63 billion order backlog.

Castillo concedes he underestimated the strength of U.S. construction sentiment, the spillover from booming data‑center power demand into Caterpillar’s power‑generation engines, and how quickly the market would price this in. With management raising both near‑term and long‑term outlooks and executing well despite economic headwinds, he now sees a more balanced risk‑reward and lifts his valuation‑based price target sharply to $915.

e.l.f. Beauty, by contrast, is losing momentum in the eyes of at least one key analyst as its once‑relentless share gains in U.S. cosmetics begin to reverse. Dara Mohsenian has downgraded ELF to Hold, citing fresh data showing its core makeup business, roughly 70% of U.S. sales, slipping into dollar‑share losses and even steeper unit‑share declines as price hikes hide underlying volume pressure.

Mohsenian warns that as last summer’s mid‑teens price increases roll off, the underlying demand softness should become harder to ignore, especially in a market where smaller brands and K‑beauty players are chipping away at legacy names. While growth from Naturium and the rhode brand, including a broader Sephora Europe rollout, provides some cushion and tariffs may help margins in 2027, he argues ELF’s recently compressed valuation is appropriate if its core cosmetics franchise is entering decline.

MGM Resorts rounds out the list with a more cautious turn from the analyst community, as growth rather than execution becomes the sticking point. David Katz has resumed coverage and downgraded MGM to Hold, saying that despite solid day‑to‑day management, the company’s complex operating‑company and property‑company structure weighs on long‑term earnings power and leaves little room for a growth premium.

Katz notes that near‑term performance is likely to be constrained by choppy Las Vegas leisure trends and tougher comparisons in Macau, even though MGM China should maintain healthy mid‑20% margins. His valuation, based on modest multiples of EBITDA, free cash flow and a discounted cash‑flow model, produces a $44 price target and assumes only slight discounts to peers while the market waits for clearer growth catalysts such as Brazil digital expansion or the long‑dated Japan project.