Today's noteworthy downgrades include: Ann Inc. (ANN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies... Ann Inc. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Mizuho... Children's Place (PLCE) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray... Deere (DE) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird... First Solar (FSLR) downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital... Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie... Ann Inc. downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust... Headwaters (HW) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush... Patterson-UTI (PTEN) downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at CLSA... Nabors Industries (NBR) downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at CLSA... Weatherford (WFT) downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at CLSA... Regency Centers (REG) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Reports Q1 revenue $734M, consensus $728.89M. The first quarter results included a gain, related to mark-to-market treatment of Nabors warrants, of $6M, or 62c per diluted share. Anthony Petrello, Nabors Chairman, CEO and President, commented, "Our first quarter operating results were stronger than we expected, driven by resilient pricing and lower costs in our Lower 48 drilling operations, as well as higher than forecast OEM repair revenue and energy transition revenue in our Rig Technologies segment. Rig count increased in our International segment, driven by rig startups in Saudi Arabia and Algeria, as part of our commitment to deploy seven rigs in these two countries during 2024. We have also received recent awards in Argentina for three more rigs. I believe we are in the midst of the largest opportunity that we've seen in the last decade to strengthen our international business. Pricing in the Lower 48 market remained firm, as utilization of our highest specification rigs stayed strong across several important markets. Average rig count increased compared to the prior quarter, but was slightly below our estimates, mainly reflecting activity reductions in natural gas basins. Results in our Drilling Solutions segment reflected reduced activity in the Lower 48, partially offset by better growth from international markets."

Wells Fargo notes that a group of seven domestic solar product makers, including First Solar (FSLR), filed a petition to levy anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, looking for duties ranging from 70.4% to 271.5%. The firm, which included the "important reminder" that "this is just a petition," says the uncertainty created by the petition is "incrementally positive" for First Solar and negative for Canadian Solar (CSIQ), Array Technologies (ARRY) and Nextracker (NXT).

Cyngn (CYN) has been chosen to supply its DriveMod Tuggers for industrial automation to John Deere's (DE) operation in Dubuque, Iowa. Cyngn is a supplier of AI-powered autonomous vehicle and data solutions based in Menlo Park, CA.

As previously reported, Evercore ISI analyst Sean Morgan upgraded First Solar to Outperform from In Line with an unchanged price target of $227. The market is expecting the Biden administration to remove a trade exemption for bifacial solar modules imported to the U.S., which now represent about 98% of U.S. solar imports, the analyst noted. Solar panel imports skyrocketed in 2023 to 54GW and some market participants have stated that reliance on imports and oversupply are negatively impacting solar domestic factories, which have been a priority for the current U.S. administration, putting pressure on greater U.S. trade protections and policy support, the analyst added.

Evercore ISI analyst Sean Morgan upgraded First Solar to Outperform from In Line with a $227 price target.