Wall Street analysts adjusted their ratings on several major stocks on Tuesday, led by upgrades for Meta Platforms and First Solar. The changes reflect increased confidence in the companies' market positions and future performance potential. Additionally, market strategists highlighted Meta, Alphabet, Apollo Global Management, and Apple on CNBC’s “Halftime Report Final Trades,” supported by recent analyst actions and company developments.

Erste Group analyst Hans Engel upgraded Meta Platforms from Hold to Buy. The move signals a positive shift in the investment potential of the NASDAQ-listed entity, moving it out of a neutral holding pattern. Meta shares closed at $600.29 on Monday. Lending support to this choice, Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski, on July 2, maintained Meta Platforms with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $765 to $767.

Deutsche Bank analyst Corinne Blanchard upgraded First Solar from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $245 to $272. First Solar shares closed at $233.06 on Monday.

Other significant upgrades included Waste Management, which CIBC analyst Kevin Chiang upgraded from Neutral to Outperformer with a $244 price target. The stock closed at $228.98. Scotiabank analyst Patrick Colville upgraded Cloudflare from Sector Perform to Sector Outperform, raising the price target from $225 to $300. Cloudflare shares closed at $247.55. Benchmark analyst Robert Wasserman upgraded Regeneron Pharmaceuticals from Hold to Buy, announcing a $185 price target. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals shares closed at $649.81 on Monday.

Stephen Weiss, chief investment officer and managing partner of Short Hills Capital Partners, expressed a positive view on Alphabet Inc. Supporting his view, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak maintained Alphabet’s Overweight rating on June 30 and raised the price target from $375 to $415. Alphabet shares rose 1.8% to settle at $366.46 during the session.

Jim Lebenthal, partner and chief market strategist at Cerity Partners, picked Apollo Global Management, Inc. Apollo said it will release financial results for the second quarter on Tuesday, Aug. 4, before the opening bell. Analysts expect the asset manager to report quarterly earnings at $2.21 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. Apollo Global shares gained 3% to close at $122.17 on Monday.

Joseph M. Terranova, senior managing director for Virtus Investment Partners, recommended Apple Inc. Apple recently raised prices on several hardware products, while leaving iPhone pricing unchanged, citing tightening memory and storage supplies as AI infrastructure spending accelerates. Apple shares rose 1.3% to settle at $312.66 during the session.

Meta Platforms Inc. shares rose approximately 1% on Monday as investors returned to large-cap technology stocks amid strengthening risk appetite. The broader market also moved higher, with the Nasdaq gaining 1.39% and the S&P 500 advancing 0.52%. Meta is attempting to extend its rebound after a choppy, multi-month decline, though the stock remains 18.46% down over the past 12 months.

Technical Analysis

Meta is trading above its 20-day simple moving average of $574.61 and its 20-day exponential moving average of $580.23, signaling improving short-term momentum following the June swing low. However, longer-term trends remain under pressure. The stock is trading 3.2% below its 50-day SMA of $603.45, 5.3% below its 100-day SMA of $616.71, and 9.5% below its 200-day SMA of $645.55.

The relative strength index stands at 49.63, a neutral reading suggesting the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. The moving-average setup presents a headwind, with the 20-day SMA below the 50-day SMA and the 50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA. This long-term "death cross" first appeared in December 2025. Key resistance sits near $606, while key support is around $557.

Earnings and Analyst Outlook

Meta is expected to report earnings on July 29. Wall Street anticipates earnings of $7.18 per share, up from $7.14 a year earlier. Revenue is projected to reach $60.22 billion, compared with $47.52 billion in the prior-year period. The stock trades at about 21.2 times earnings.

Analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an average price forecast of $823.15. Recent analyst actions include Wells Fargo raising its price forecast to $767 on July 2, RBC Capital maintaining an $810 target on June 1, and Rosenblatt keeping a $1,015 target on May 28.

Benzinga Edge Rankings

Meta scores well on growth and quality but lags on momentum. The company holds a Momentum score of 12.92, a Quality score of 84.68, a Value score of 53.49, and a Growth score of 88.32. These ratings suggest investors continue to favor Meta's long-term fundamentals as the stock works to rebuild its technical trend.

ETF Exposure

Meta is a top holding in several growth-focused exchange-traded funds. The Capital Group Growth ETF (CGGR) holds a 7.79% weighting, the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN) holds 8.55%, and the Natixis Loomis Sayles Focused Growth ETF (LSGR) holds 7.73%. Strong inflows or outflows in these funds can create additional buying or selling pressure for Meta shares.