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We look at the companies where analysts are becoming more positive and negative
Thursday 27 Oct 2022 Author: Tom Sieber

Using data from Stockopedia Shares has identified those stocks which have
the most upgrades and downgrades over the past week.

Among the stocks where analysts have been nudging forecasts higher, tobacco firm Imperial Brands (IMB) stands out.

We looked at the Imperial Brands investment case in detail in this article. The company has demonstrated its pricing power, with its core product’s addictive qualities allowing it to pass higher costs on to smokers and this is clearly having positive implications for earnings estimates.

Miner Petra Diamonds (PDL) seems to have impressed with its recent site visit to Antwerp to meet the company’s sales team.

Packaging firm DS Smith (SMDS) guided analysts higher with a 10 October trading update and they have responded in kind as fears have been allayed about the impact of a weakening economy on the wider sector. Berenberg analyst Lydia Kenny commented: ‘Strong pricing momentum, good cost control and resilience in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) end-markets are the key drivers of this upgrade, which gives us confidence in the near-term outlook for the group.’

Interestingly, there were downgrades for the firm’s peer Mondi (MNDI) as it unveiled a slightly more mixed update recently (14 October).

Comparison site Moneysupermarket (MONY) may have delivered third-quarter revenue growth of 33% as people looked to make savings where they can, but nervousness around the UK economy and the launch of a price comparison service by Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) spurred a round of downgrades.

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