Here are this week's downgrades to Strong Sell as determined by the POWR Ratings algorithm.

Verve Therapeutics (VERV) - a clinical-stage genetic medicines company that says it is "pioneering a new approach" to the care of cardiovascular disease
Equinox Gold (EQX) - a Canadian mining company with seven operating gold mines that says it sees "a clear path to achieve more than one million ounces of annual gold production from a pipeline of development and expansion projects"
Guardant Health (GH) - a precision oncology company
Toast (TOST) - operator of a cloud-based digital technology platform of software as a service, or SaaS, products and financial technology solutions for restaurants
Carnival Corporation (CCL) - the world's largest cruise company with a portfolio of nine cruise lines and operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia
Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX) - a clinical stage biotechnology company whose pipeline includes antibody-based therapeutics with the ability to engage the human immune system and/or directly affect critical pathways in patients with inflammatory diseases and many forms of cancer
GDS Holdings (GDS) - a developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China
GameStop (GME) - a video game retail store operator that brands itself as "a multi-brand network" whose goal is "to deliver games to our customers anytime, anywhere and on any device"
NuScale Power (SMR) - a developer of small modular reactor, or SMR, nuclear technology that markets the NuScale Power Module pressurized water reactor and VOYGR series power plants

Recent news on these stocks:

December 21

Carnival reports Q4 adjusted EPS (85c), consensus (87c). Reports Q4 revenue $3.84B, consensus $3.91B.

Carnival sees Q1 adjusted net loss ($850M)-($750M). Q1 EPS consensus (47c).

The company expects $250 to $350 million of adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2023. The company expects a sequential improvement compared to 2019 in each quarter of 2023 as it continues to close the gap. In addition, the company expects to generate significant positive adjusted EBITDA in 2023. The company expects an adjusted net loss of $750 to $850 million for the first quarter of 2023.

Carnival Corporation & plc's CEO Josh Weinstein commented, "Throughout 2022, we have successfully returned our fleet to service, aggressively building occupancy on growing capacity, while driving revenue per passenger cruise day higher than 2019 record levels, both in the fourth quarter and full year overall. We have also actively managed down our costs while investing to build future demand." Weinstein continued, "Booking volumes strengthened following the relaxation in protocols, cancellation trends are improving globally, and we have seen a measurable lengthening in the booking curve, across all brands. The momentum has continued into December, which bodes well for 2023 overall as more markets open for cruise travel, protocols continue to relax, our closer to home itineraries play out, our stepped-up advertising efforts pay dividends and our brands continue to hone all aspects of their revenue generating activities." Weinstein added, "We believe we are accelerating our return to strong profitability through our fleet and brand portfolio management which is delivering prudent capacity growth weighted toward our highest returning brands and amplified by nearly a quarter of our fleet consisting of newly delivered vessels. We believe this leaves us well positioned to drive revenue growth across our global brand portfolio as we continue to leverage our scale on our industry leading cost base, to deliver free cash flow which over time will propel us on the path to deleveraging, investment grade credit ratings and higher ROIC."

The company's capacity growth is expected to be 3.7% for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2019 and 3.3% for the full year 2023 compared to the full year 2019.

The company now expects total capacity growth of 3% for 2023 compared to 2019, at the lower end of the previous guidance range of 3% to 5%. The prudent capacity growth rate includes the benefit that newly delivered ships will represent nearly a quarter of the company's capacity.

The company's occupancy for the first quarter of 2023 is expected to be 90% or slightly higher, a 14 percentage point gap, or better, from 2019 levels, which is an improvement from a 19 percentage point gap for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The company continues to expect to close the gap to 2019 levels, with occupancy returning to historical levels in the summer of 2023, which has historically been well over 100%.

The company's full year 2023 cumulative advanced booked position is higher than its historical average at higher prices in constant currency, normalized for FCCs, as compared to a strong 2019.

Commenting on Carnival's quarterly results, Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski notes that full-year 2023 guidance wasn't provided, which he doesn't believe should come as a shock to most investors. Given the uncertainty around the company's European sourced business and the fact the company hasn't encountered Wave Season yet, it probably makes sense for the company to delay giving full-year guidance at this point, Wieczynski argues. He also points out that Q1 EBITDA guidance comes in slightly below what he is targeting but seems like most of the "miss" is tied to higher advertising costs which isn't a surprise to him. Forward booking commentary continues to be encouraging, the analyst adds. He has a Buy rating on the shares with a price target of $18.

December 16

Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Sykes lowered the firm's price target on Exact Sciences (EXAS) to $65 from $70 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Following Guardant Health's (GH) pivotal ECLIPSE data evaluating a liquid biopsy blood-based test for the detection of colorectal cancer a competitor to Exact Sciences' Cologuard test, Exact shares were up over 20% and Guardant shares were down 40%, Sykes tells investors in a research note. The analyst sees this as an overreaction for both stocks, saying market share shifts "tend to be more gradual over time, shaped by technology, ease of use, and commercial effectiveness." Key to determining the share shift within colorectal cancer diagnostics will be how doctors' ultimately weigh the benefit of Shield's better adherence versus Cologuard's higher sensitivity, writes Sykes. He believes Cologuard's penetration in the market, coupled with continued commercial execution will help drive Cologuard growth in the near term. However, pending Shield's FDA approval and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decision, liquid biopsy screening in colorectal cancer has arrived and will start to make an impact on the competitive landscape, he adds. Sykes dropped Exact's price target not in connection with the ECLIPSE readout, but to better reflect the guidance issued on its Q3 earnings call.

After Guardant Health disclosed results from its three-year, pivotal ECLIPSE trial evaluating the performance of its blood-based test for detecting colorectal cancer, or CRC, in average-risk adults, Jefferies analyst Brandon Couillard said calling the ECLIPSE data "a flop would probably be unfair." However, top-line data for cancer sensitivity and "pre-cancer" detection were below expectations and inferior to Exact Sciences' Cologuard test, which he believes removes a "major overhang" and should boost confidence in Cologuard's long-term revenue opportunity. Couillard has a Buy rating and $70 price target on Exact shares.

After Guardant Health disclosed results from its three-year, pivotal ECLIPSE trial evaluating the performance of its blood-based test for detecting colorectal cancer, or CRC, in average-risk adults that were "modestly lower" that expectations, Morgan Stanley analyst Tejas Savant said the after-hours stock reaction implies a "fatally flawed" performance and not just what the analyst sees as an "optical miss." While the results demonstrated overall sensitivity a couple percentage points below Street expectations, Savant sees the data as sufficient to unlock a $2B-plus opportunity and over the longer term is confident that expansion into additional tumor types and the convenience of a blood-based non-invasive approach will allow Guardant to achieve $4-$5B in annual revenue "in CRC alone." Given that view, Savant sees "a highly compelling entry point into a name that is extremely well positioned in the attractive liquid biopsy vertical" and reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares with an $80 price target.

BofA analyst Derik de Bruin raised the firm's price target on Guardant Health to $70 from $65 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company released "long-awaited" data from the ECLIPSE trial to evaluate the SHIELD blood-based test in detecting colorectal cancer, or CRC, in average-risk adults. ECLIPSE came in at 83% sensitivity at 90% specificity, which was above the 74% sensitivity benchmark necessary for CMS reimbursement, but also below "some investor expectations of 85% sensitivity," the analyst noted. While these results were "not far outside our range of expectations," investors reacted negatively, said de Bruin, who contends that the results are sufficient to gain FDA approval.

Wells Fargo analyst Jeff Cantwell maintained an Overweight rating and $27 price target on Toast following a call with an industry experts who believes Toast has a "significant opportunity ahead" in a resilient restaurant space, highlighting the company's technology as a way for restaurants to lower their employee headcounts while maintaining a positive guest experience. They called Toast the "best-in-class" solution, as Toast has the best understanding of how to serve the day-to-day operations of the restaurant industry.

LifeSci Capital analyst Sam Slutsky downgraded Third Harmonic Bio (THRD) to Market Perform from Outperform and removed his prior price target after the company announced that it is discontinuing the Phase Ib chronic inducible urticaria study with THB001 following the observation of asymptomatic liver transaminitis in two patients. As a result of the "disappointing and unexpected" update, the competitive landscape for chronic urticaria has "become thinner," said Slutsky, who noted that both Celldex (CLDX) and Allakos (ALLK) traded up yesterday following the news.

About "Sell these stocks now"

Each week, The Fly will announce the newest downgrades to Strong Sell in StockNews.com's POWR Ratings algorithmic model.

This Fly exclusive recap identifies stocks with over a $1B market capitalization that have been downgraded this week to the Strong Sell, or "F," rating in the service's proprietary model that analyzes 118 different factors, each of which contribute a little to the stock's predicted likelihood of underperformance. A bell curve distribution of StockNews.com's ratings shows that only the top 5% of the over 5,000 stocks rated by the system are assigned a "Strong Buy," or "A," rating while the bottom 5% are assigned a Strong Sell. The F-rated stocks would have tumbled an average of 18.98% a year since 1999, according to StockNews.com.