Several of the week’s biggest movers in financial stocks were either helped or hurt by analysts’ recommendations ahead of Q1 earnings season.
The stock that fell the most, Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) dropped 21% after B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes trimmed his price target after the bitcoin miner’s March results came in lower than expected due to delays in deploying new miners.
And LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) shares rose the most, +6.3%, for the week ended April 8, after the network of financial advisers was upgraded to Market Outperform at JMP.
Rounding out the decliners are:
- MarketAxess (MKTX), -17%, which was cut to Market Perform at Raymond James, because widening credit spreads failed to accelerate market share gains.
- Upstart Holdings (UPST), which provides AI-driven loan underwriting technology to banks, dipped 16% for the week, despite nabbing a Buy rating in new coverage at Loop Capital;
- SoFi Technologies (SOFI), the fintech that helps refinance student loans, fell 16% after it cut its 2022 guidance because the Biden administration extended the pause of federal student loan payments to Aug. 31; and
- Triumph Bancorp (TBK) slipped 15% in the same week it launched a division that tasked with supporting its transformation into a transportation fintech company.
Filling out the top five largest financial stock climbers are:
- Morningstar (MORN), +4.6%, which announced on Monday that it’s acquiring a leveraged loan market data business from S&P Global (SPGI) for up to $650M;
- Synchrony Financial (SYF), +4.2%, which launched a cashback credit card with PayPal (PYPL) on Tuesday and was favored over Bread Financial (BFH) in an analyst note issued by Wolfe Research.
- Grab Holdings (GRAB), the Singapore-based financial, mobility, and delivery app, rose 4.0%; and
- A.J. Gallagher (AJG), the insurance brokerage and consulting firm, gained 3.9% during the week.
One of the biggest financial stock decliners for Friday was LXP Industrial (LXP), -14%, after it announced that it will halt its strategic review process and continue on stay an independent REIT.
Read More: Marathon Digital drops, LPL Financial gains in week’s financial movers (NASDAQ:MARA)