✕

Markets

Insider Trading

Hedge Funds

Retirement

Opinion

Sell Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Downgraded on Thursday

Page 1 of 3

Chip stocks took the hardest hit on November 5, when the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 12.2%, its biggest one-day drop since April 2025. The S&P 500 slid 4.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.5%, which put the tech-heavy index in correction territory. Weak results from a smartphone-chip supplier and fears that a Democratic-controlled Congress could slow AI spending set the tone.

Chips Take the Brunt of a Sharp Sell-Off

Melissa Brown, global head of investment decision research at SimCorp, said some newly elected members of Congress and governors want to slow the pace of AI infrastructure development, and that any slowdown would raise concerns. Hedge funds added fuel by rushing to lock in gains from this year’s AI winners, and the market’s fear gauge posted its biggest one-day jump in more than two years, according to Futurum Equities chief market strategist Shay Boloor.

The pullback did not come out of nowhere. Our list of oversold AI stocks that analysts saw 50%+ upside in was published before the sell-off, when plenty of Wall Street firms still saw the group as cheap. A drop of this size forces those firms to decide whether prices fell because the business changed or because investors panicked.

Hot Inflation Puts a December Rate Hike in Play

Inflation data kept the pressure on. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in October, its third straight gain of 0.4% or more and above the 0.3% economists expected, while core prices rose 0.3%. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank should raise short-term borrowing costs in December even if inflation cooled, and should consider a half-point increase if the picture worsens. The 2-year Treasury yield jumped nearly 18.9 basis points to 4.736% on November 10, its biggest daily gain since April 9, 2025.

Producer prices added to the strain on November 13. The Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.3% in October after an upwardly revised 1.4% surge in September, and the 6.5% annual gain was the largest since November 2022. The Fed left its benchmark rate at 3.75%-4.00% at its October meeting, and markets are weighing a 25-basis-point against a 50-basis-point hike in December. The 10-year Treasury yield reached as high as 5.17% on November 13, its highest level since October.

Oil has moved the other way. Brent futures were near $92.77 a barrel on November 11, after touching two-month lows the day before, compared with a settlement of $104.77 on November 2. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said prices were being supported by fading hopes of an imminent de-escalation between the United States and Iran.

Photo by Arturo Añez on Unsplash

Our Methodology

To compile this list, we reviewed analyst rating downgrades announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026, and selected them by market capitalization. We have ranked these stocks in ascending order of their average upside potential, based on analysts’ average price target, as of November 12. We also list each stock’s number of hedge fund holders as of Q2 2026, from our database of 1,006 hedge funds.

At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with what hedge funds do. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 612% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 375 percentage points (see more details here).

Sell Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Downgraded on Thursday

10. Victoria’s Secret (NYSE:VSXY)

Average Upside Potential: -4%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43

BofA Securities downgraded Victoria’s Secret to Neutral from Buy on November 12, even as it raised its price target to $112 from $95. The firm’s reasoning is that the rally has left limited upside.

Victoria’s Secret & Co. sells intimates, apparel and beauty products under the Victoria’s Secret, PINK and Adore Me names. In the second quarter of 2026, which ended August 1 and was reported on September 3, net sales rose 10% to $1.611 billion and adjusted operating income came in at $124 million, above the $90 million to $100 million the company had guided. Reported operating income of $257 million included tariff refund recoveries.

Management raised its full-year outlook with that report. It now expects net sales of $7.100 billion to $7.180 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.45 to $4.70 per share. For the third quarter it guided to net sales of $1.570 billion to $1.600 billion and operating income of $10 million to $20 million.

The company is expected to report those results on December 3, and analysts expect earnings of $0.03 per share. Our story on how a bra boom rewrote the retailer’s growth story explains what has been driving the sales.

9. PTC (NASDAQ:PTC)

Average Upside Potential: 3%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Wolfe Research cut PTC to Peer Perform from Outperform on November 12, six weeks after Schneider Electric agreed to buy the company for $22.6 billion in cash. We covered the premium Schneider put on its takeover bid when the deal was announced on October 5.

PTC makes the design and product lifecycle software that manufacturers use to engineer and service physical products. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which ended September 30 and was reported on November 4, annual recurring revenue excluding divested businesses rose 8% to $2.508 billion. For the full year, revenue was $2.733 billion, essentially flat, while non-GAAP earnings per share rose 4% to $8.24 and free cash flow came to $873 million, up 2%.

PTC is no longer giving guidance. It withdrew its quarterly and annual outlook because of the pending transaction and suspended its quarterly earnings calls, so investors have no company forecast to measure the business against.

Because the offer is all cash, shareholders receive a fixed price instead of a share of future growth, and the deal terms now set the stock’s direction more than operating results do. The shares trade at about 19.7 times forward earnings.

Page 1 of 3