CF Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) has been a standout performer in basic materials this year. The stock is up 4.62% over the past week, 35.52% over the past month, and 64.32% year-to-date, trading at $131.67 as of March 26, 2026.

Most Wall Street analysts remain cautious, with a consensus price target of just $107.68 across 16 Hold, 2 Buy, and 2 Sell ratings. UBS stands apart, raising its price target to $140 from $97 while maintaining a Neutral rating — roughly 9% above the current price and well above Street consensus. Can CF realistically reach $140 by end of 2026?

UBS’s $140 CF Prediction

UBS sees scope for further upside in nitrogen pricing and earnings, with the current industry disruption more severe than what is reflected in gas and nitrogen pricing at present, depending on duration. The firm’s thesis centers on a supply shock the broader market has not fully priced in. Urea prices have surged 77% due to supply disruptions, yet CF’s stock still trades at a P/E of just 14.28x, well below the broader chemicals sector average — suggesting meaningful re-rating potential if nitrogen pricing holds.

Key Drivers of CF Stock Performance

1. Middle East Supply Disruptions: Conflict in the Persian Gulf has stalled fertilizer exports from major regional producers. Iran-U.S. tensions and effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have tightened global nitrogen supply sharply. As North America’s largest nitrogen producer, CF is insulated from these disruptions while benefiting from the resulting price spike, creating durable margin expansion.
2. Strong Global Nitrogen Demand: U.S. corn plantings are expected to remain high in 2026, while India’s urea stocks are approximately 35% lower year-over-year. Global nitrogen demand is growing at roughly 1.5% annually, and new capacity under construction is not projected to keep pace, supporting a pricing floor that benefits long-term holders.
3. Capital Returns and Clean Energy Growth: CF returned $1.70 billion to shareholders in 2025 and has approximately $1.7 billion remaining on its $2 billion buyback program through December 2029. The Blue Point low-carbon ammonia joint venture with JERA and Mitsui, targeting production in 2029, positions CF for the emerging clean hydrogen economy — adding long-duration growth to an already cash-generative business.

What Will It Take for CF to Reach $140?

With 153.6 million shares outstanding, a $140 price target represents meaningful upside from today’s market capitalization of $21.5 billion. Getting there requires nitrogen prices to remain elevated through mid-to-late 2026, the Yazoo City Complex outage to resolve on schedule by Q4 2026, and continued execution on the Blue Point JV. Natural gas costs bear watching: after spiking to $7.72/MMBtu in January 2026 before pulling back to $3.62 in February, input cost volatility remains the central variable in CF’s margin equation.

The primary risk is a geopolitical de-escalation that normalizes nitrogen supply faster than expected, unwinding the pricing tailwind underpinning UBS’s thesis. Even so, with full-year 2025 free cash flow of $1.789 billion, a disciplined buyback program, and a structural cost advantage over European and Asian producers, CF presents a combination of near-term pricing leverage and long-term compounding through capital returns and clean energy optionality.

The post UBS Lifts CF Industries to $140 Price Target: Urea Prices Are Up 77% and the Market Hasn’t Caught On appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) is trading near its 52-week low after shares fell about 14% over the past week and about 13% over the past month. The catalyst was a Q4 2025 net loss of $519.5 million, driven by surging sulfur costs and a $189 million impairment charge. Yet full-year 2025 net income came in at $540.7 million, a number that tells a very different story than the headline quarter.

It won’t come as much of a surprise to learn that Reddit has taken notice. A single thread on r/wallstreetbets is driving all of Mosaic’s current social sentiment, with a bullish score of 72 out of 100 across four consecutive measurement periods over the past 30 hours.

The Hormuz Fertilizer Thesis

The dominant thread, posted by u/Cueg, frames Mosaic as a geopolitical sleeper trade. The post argues that oil gets the headlines, but fertilizer is the second-order play: “a massive chunk (1/3) of global fertilizer production and logistics runs through that region, directly or indirectly… fertilizer feels like it lags, then moves harder once shortages actually show up.”

If Hormuz stays disrupted, fertilizer might be the sleeper trade
by u/Cueg in wallstreetbets

The post has accumulated 1,198 upvotes and 473 comments as of early Tuesday, up from 728 upvotes and 401 comments at peak engagement Monday evening. Activity scores held steady rather than spiked, suggesting genuine investment discussion. The bullish case rests on three structural arguments:

• Chinese phosphate exports are expected to fall more than 1.5 million tonnes, tightening global supply into 2026 and pushing buyers toward Mosaic’s volumes.
• Mosaic’s Brazil segment delivered 190% EBITDA growth year-over-year in Q3 2025, with gross margins expanding from $44 to $65 per tonne, making it the company’s clearest growth engine.
• Mosaic trades at roughly 14x earnings, well below the chemicals industry average of 26x and the peer group average of 19x.

Sulfur Costs and the Bear Case

Looking at analyst considerations, Bank of America downgraded Mosaic from Buy to Neutral on March 20-21, cutting its price target to $30 from $33 and declaring that “margin expansion is now more likely a 2027 story.” As a result of this analyst shift, the stock fell nearly 10% on that day alone.

CFO Luciano Pires was direct on the Q4 earnings call: “Every $10 increase in sulfur prices adds approximately $10 million of quarterly expense. Compared with the prior year first quarter, we thus expect a roughly $250 million headwind to Q1 ’26 EBITDA.” Sulfur hit approximately $500 per metric ton late in Q4 2025, against a recorded cost of $306 per tonne. Working capital consumed $960 million in cash during 2025.

Peer Nutrien (NYSE:NTR) trades at a trailing P/E of roughly 16x, with a market cap near $35 billion, offering more diversified fertilizer exposure with less Brazil-concentration risk. CF Industries (NYSE:CF) is up 65% year to date, largely because its domestic natural gas advantage insulates it from the sulfur and ammonia inflation squeezing Mosaic.

Management expects a $300 to $500 million working capital release in 2026, and phosphate conversion costs are already on a downward path toward a sub-$100 per tonne target. The underlying supply tightness in phosphate is real. Whether Brazil’s credit constraints and sulfur headwinds clear fast enough to show up in cash flow is the question that matters.

Data Sources:

• Mosaic’s Rare Earths Bet Could Revalue the Stock (247 Wall St, March 18, 2026): background on Brazil strategic initiatives and rare earths optionality.
• Is Mosaic (MOS) Still A Bargain After Its Recent 20% Share Price Jump?: P/E valuation benchmarks, DCF analysis, and peer comparison metrics.
• The Mosaic Company (MOS) Traded Down Due to Softer Fertilizer Demand: Q4 2025 financial results, production guidance, and execution risk context.
• Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (Alpha Vantage): sulfur cost quantification, Brazil production curtailments, working capital dynamics, and management guidance.

The post MOS Trades at 14x Earnings While Its Brazil Business Just Grew EBITDA 190% In Q3 2025 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

A leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products, CF Industries (NYSE:CF) has surged 59% year-to-date amid Iran-linked supply disruptions, which have tightened global nitrogen markets, with shares reaching $123.29 as of March 17. But the rally drawing retail investors is also drawing federal regulators, raising a question Reddit has not fully priced in: is CF sitting on a geopolitical windfall, or walking into a legal trap?

The fundamentals are hard to argue with as CF reported Q4 2025 revenue of $1.87 billion, beating estimates by 7%, with gross margin expanding to 40.9% from 34.4% a year earlier. Other good news included full-year net income of $1.455 billion, up 19%. Additionally, a $169.5 million cash settlement from Orica, announced March 16, added a near-term cash tailwind. Then came the headwind: a DOJ antitrust probe that put a legal overhang on what had been a clean supply-disruption story.

Reddit Found the Hormuz Trade Early

Sentiment on CF climbed from 72 on March 9 to 88 by March 12-13, driven by two waves. The geopolitical angle broke first in r/stocks, where a post titled “Not just oil….but also fertiliser…one third passes through the Hormuz” framed CF as a direct beneficiary of Middle East supply chain disruption, arguing that CF Industries stands to benefit as one-third of global fertiliser supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz and any disruption removes a major competing supply source from world markets.

Not just oil….but also fertiliser…one third passes through the Hormuz
by u/[post_author] in stocks

Days later, r/wallstreetbets lit up with gains posts.

$CF 100k++ gainz in one day, thank you Value Investors for the fertilizers heads up
by u/wallstreetbets_poster in wallstreetbets

That post reached 212 upvotes and 70 comments by March 13. The structural case behind the enthusiasm:

• ~20% of European ammonia capacity and ~25% of European urea capacity are currently curtailed, removing a major competing supply source from global markets
• CF’s 97% FY 2025 capacity utilization sits 10% above North American peers, giving it maximum leverage on tight pricing
• Russian nitrogen exports run approximately 15% below pre-war levels, and Chinese urea exports remain restricted under strict quotas

The Legal Overhang Institutional Investors Are Watching

The bull case collides with a pattern institutions have noticed, as insiders tracking the stock have logged 25 sales and zero buys over the past year, including director and former CEO Anthony Will selling 57,364 shares worth $6.27 million on March 9 and W. Will selling 81,651 shares at $126.56 on March 13. Barclays, AustralianSuper, and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board all trimmed or cut positions in February and March. The analyst consensus is “Hold” with a price target near $101, well below where shares trade today.

Mosaic (NYSE:MOS), focused on phosphate and potash rather than nitrogen, is idling lower-margin Brazilian facilities amid weak U.S. phosphate demand. CF’s nitrogen focus and North American gas cost advantage put it in a structurally different position. The key watch item is how the DOJ probe develops: formal price-fixing charges could unwind the geopolitical premium faster than the supply disruption that built it.

The post CF Industries Is Up 59% Year to Date and a DOJ Probe Just Complicated the Story appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The world’s largest producer of ammonia, CF Industries (NYSE:CF) shares hit an all-time high this week, up 67.6% year-to-date as escalating Middle East conflict tightened global nitrogen supply and sent fertilizer prices surging. CF is trading around $129.60 on Friday after pulling back from a $136 close on March 12. The thesis is straightforward right now, even amid international disarray, as Iran and the Strait of Hormuz handle a meaningful share of global fertilizer flows, and CF is one of the few large-scale North American producers positioned to fill that gap at a structural cost advantage.

Reddit Found CF Before the Headlines Did

Retail sentiment climbed from 72 on March 9 to a sustained 88 by March 12, with r/wallstreetbets driving most of the volume. The geopolitical angle surfaced first in r/stocks, where the post “Not just oil….but also fertiliser…one third passes through the Hormuz” drew early attention to the supply disruption.

Not just oil….but also fertiliser…one third passes through the Hormuz
by u/stocks_poster in stocks

In “$CF 100k++ gainz in one day, thank you Value Investors for the fertilizers heads up”, the poster wrote: “Saw the fertilizer Hormuz thread in r/stocks last week and loaded up on CF calls — paid off big today.” That post reached 192 upvotes and 65 comments by Friday morning. The bullish case rests on three pillars:

• Roughly 20% of European ammonia capacity and 25% of urea capacity are currently curtailed, removing a major supply source from global markets
• CF posted full-year revenue of $7.08 billion, up 19.1% year-over-year, with Q4 gross margin expanding to 38.5% from 34.6% versus the prior year
• North American natural gas costs remain far below European feedstock prices, giving CF a durable margin advantage as long as that spread holds

Solid Earnings, Fragile Geopolitical Premium

The good news for investors closely watching the stock is that this rally is not purely speculative, as CF beat Q4 EPS estimates by $0.11 to $2.59 versus the $2.48 consensus, and full-year adjusted EBITDA grew to $2.89 billion from $2.28 billion in 2024. Barclays raised its price target to $120, citing favorable nitrogen market forecasts, though the stock has already blown past that level. Prediction markets assign only a 19.5% probability to the Iran conflict resolving by March 31, suggesting the supply-disruption narrative has room to persist in the near term.

CF’s Blue Ammonia Bet Changes the Long-Term Story

Even if the geopolitical tailwind fades, CF is building a second act. The Blue Point joint venture with JERA and Mitsui targets low-carbon ammonia production in Louisiana, and the Yazoo City carbon capture project with ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is targeting a 2028 startup. CF already sold its first certified low-carbon ammonia cargoes at premium prices in Q3 2025. Analysts will be watching whether the clean ammonia platform can support a higher valuation floor once the geopolitical premium fades.

The post CF Industries Is Up 76% and Fertilizer Supply Is Why appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.

A tame inflation report set the stock market on fire yesterday, sending the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) up 1%. But can the momentum continue into Wednesday?

President Trump is doing his best to keep the rally going, albeit in a novel way — by threatening to sue Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell if the Federal Open Markets Committee doesn’t agree to lower interest rate targets very soon. “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” declared the President on Truth Social last night, aiming to jolt the stock market higher with  hopes of a rate cut.

Additionally, the President plans to nominate Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni is known to favor discontinuing the publication of monthly unemployment updates, switching to a quarterly data system that he says would be “more accurate, though less timely.” Such a move would also give investors less information to worry about, potentially smoothing out monthly market gyrations.

Long story short, big changes are afoot. And yet, investors seem to be taking all of the above in stride, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is trading up 0.3% premarket.

Earnings

Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy operator Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) reported fiscal Q4 earnings of $2.49 per share this morning, a nickel better than analyst estimates. Quarterly revenue of $1.44 billion nailed the analyst forecast.

Brinker followed up the good news with an optimistic  forecast for $5.6 billion to $5.7 billion in fiscal 2026 revenue, and earnings between $9.90 and $10.50 per share, sending its stock up more than 6% premarket.

3-D printing company Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) reported a Q2 profit of $0.03 per share, right in line with Wall Street expectations. Revenue was $138.1 million, ahead of estimates.

Stratasys’s guidance, however, was exceedingly weak: $550 million to $560 million in sales, below analyst forecasts, and earnings of no more than $0.16 per share — half of what Wall Street wanted to see.

Stratasys shares are moving 13% lower premarket.

The post Stock Market Live August 13: As President Trump Threatens to Sue Fed Chair Powell, the S&P 500 (VOO) Keeps Marching Higher appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading lower Tuesday on disappointing China economic data, after a solid start to the trading week that saw all the major indexes finish the day higher. With the inflation index readings out of the way until September, and the final second-quarter earnings on tap for this week with results from big retailers like Walmart and Target and tech giant Cisco, the stock market is likely poised to grind through the final two weeks of the summer with low volumes. One item that could stir the pot this week is the Friday options expiration, which some strategists view as having the potential to ignite selling if we trade through certain levels before Friday.

Treasury yields were modestly higher on Monday as some light selling came into the complex. Some analysts feel that the 30-year long bond could be headed back to highs hit last November. The last trade on Tuesday saw the yield at 4.30%. The 10-year note closed on Monday at 4.20%, while the two-year paper finished the day at 4.97%. While the inversion has narrowed some, many across Wall Street now feel a mild recession is on tap for 2024.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished Monday modestly higher, as more attention continued to focus on the energy rally, which has pushed the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund close to a 52-week high. Brent closed at $86.36, while WTI finished Monday’s session at $82.60. Natural gas was last seen at $2.84.

Gold had a lackluster day Monday, and many feel that the precious metal will stay stuck in neutral for the balance of the summer. While many view the $1,950 level of the December contract as support, the environment for the safe-haven bullion is being challenged by short T-bill rates well above the 5% level. Gold closed Monday at $1,937.90. Bitcoin, which has had a so-so summer as well, closed flat Monday at $29,392.
[nativounit]
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and has a $310 target price. The consensus target is just $252.55, while shares closed on Monday at $260.97.

Berry Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: BRY): Piper Sandler’s downgraded was from Overweight to Neutral with a $9 target price. The consensus target is $9.40. Monday’s closing share price was $8.07.
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BWX Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BWXT): Truist Financial raised its $77 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $83. The consensus target is $78.71. Monday’s close was at $74.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Even though Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, the analyst raised the $80 target price to $85. The consensus target is $86.30, and shares closed on Monday at $78.06.

Cogent Communications Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $76 target price. The consensus target is $70.20. Monday’s final trade was for $70.71 a share.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO): When Janney upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, its $24 target price rose to $28. The consensus target is $24.00. The shares closed 13% higher on Monday at $25.59.

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE: CTRA): Piper Sandler’s upgrade was to Overweight from Neutral. The firm also raised its $30 target price to $35, above the $30.26 consensus target. Monday’s close was at $27.97.

CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CBAY): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 target price. The consensus target is $16.00. Monday’s $12.07 close was down over 10% for the day.

Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN): Citing its investment in research and development initiatives, Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares last closed at $219.04, and the $228.19 consensus price target would be an all-time high.

EnerSys (NYSE: ENS): Oppenheimer trimmed its $119 target price to $117 while maintaining an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $116.80. The closing share price on Monday was $96.18.
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EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR): As BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, its $50 target price slipped to $45. The consensus is $49.28, and shares closed on Monday at $42.79.

Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE: KEYS): BofA Securities lowered its Neutral rating Underperform and its $163 target price to $148. The consensus target is up at $189.21. The shares closed on Monday at $157.04.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR): Bernstein’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a price target hike to $218 from $204. The $200.33 consensus target is less than Monday’s closing share price of $206.84.

Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ: MNST): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $72 target price. That compares with a lower $62 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $59.01.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and has a $40 target price. The consensus is $43.22. The shares closed on Monday at $40.61.

Northern Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE: NOG): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares from Overweight to Neutral with a $46 target price. The $47.67 consensus target is also higher than Monday’s closing print of $40.96.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR): The Barclays downgrade to Underweight from Overweight came with a target price trim to $68 from $70. The consensus target is $75.16. Monday’s $63.83 close was down 4% on the day.

Parsons Corp. (NYSE: PSN): The prior Underperform rating at BofA Securities is now at Buy, and the analyst lifted the $46 target price all the way to $65. The consensus target is just $58.44, and shares closed on Monday at $55.31.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG): The UBS downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a target price cut to $66 from $70. The consensus target is $66.63. On Monday, the stock closed at $60.04.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN): Though Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, its $36 target price increased to $40. The consensus target is $34.67, less than Monday’s close at $36.39.
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Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating. Its $96 price target is well above the $90.11 consensus target Monday’s close at $78.36.

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC): BofA Securities cut its Neutral rating to Underperform and its $78 price target to $67. The consensus target is $77.33, and the stock ended Monday trading at $65.46.

W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $825 target price. The consensus target is just $773.18, but Monday’s closing share price was $715.68.
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As dark clouds gather on the economic horizon, these seven high-yielding Warren Buffett stocks look poised not only to survive in the current rising interest rate environment but possibly to thrive.

See how the gap in pay between film business CEOs and the industry average stacks up against those in other industries.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alibaba, Amazon.com, AppLovin, Corteva, Hershey, Lucid, Medical Properties Trust, Palo Alto Networks, Rivian Automotive, Twilio, Ventas, Walmart and Wayfair.

The post Tuesday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amgen, Coterra Energy, Eaton, Marriott, Monster Beverage, Mosaic, Urban Outfitters, Wayfair and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading higher as we prepare to end a crazy back-and-forth week on Wall Street. All the major indexes except the Nasdaq tumbled Thursday after more bank worries spread, with PacWest once again the target, falling a stunning 30% at one point after reporting it had lost almost 10% of the bank’s deposits in the past week. Toss in the highest first-time unemployment claims in 19 months and the ongoing debt limit issues, and many investors are starting to worry that it could be a long summer. Moreover, the odds that rates will be increased again in June are rising.

Treasury yields were down across the curve for the second day in a row, as investors continue to seek safe havens for capital. Bond traders have pointed out that the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer mantra likely will stand through the rest of the year, and with pricing power fading, the economy could stumble for the rest of 2023. The 10-year note closed at 3.40%, while the two-year finished at 3.90%, keeping the inversion intact.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed modestly lower Thursday, despite former President Trump saying he will “Drill Baby, Drill” if elected. Top analysts cited the ongoing short-seller attack on the sector as one reason for weakness in the past two sessions. Natural gas was modestly lower, finishing flat at $2.19.

Gold finished Thursday lower at $2,020, while Bitcoin closed down almost 3% at $26,893. The cryptocurrency giant has tumbled almost 11% since printing a 2023 high of $30,506 on April 14.
[nativounit]
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, May 12, 2023.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sector Weight. Its $270 price target is higher than the consensus target of $256.59. The stock closed up 2% on Thursday at $198.43. The company crushed earnings estimates last week.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Credit Suisse raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $49.24. Thursday’s final trade was for $35.33 a share.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $145 target price is well above the $129.76 consensus target. Thursday’s $116.57 close up over 4% on the day after the announcement of big AI integrations.
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Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): Kepler’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $105 target price. The target is $102.63, and Thursday’s close at $88.83.
Axon Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ: AXON): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $204 price objective. The consensus target is up at $247.52. Thursday’s close at $204.60 was up close over 6% for the day on the upgrade and solid earnings.

Bentley Systems Inc. (NYSE: BSY): Though Goldman Sachs cut its Buy rating to Neutral, the analyst also raised the $45 target price to $47. The consensus target is $51. The stock closed on Thursday at $45.22.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): CLSA’s downgraded to Underperform from Buy included a target price slash to $63 from $93. The consensus target is $87.77. Thursday’s close was at $57.32.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight. It also cut its $110 target price to $80, below the $92.90 consensus target. The stock closed at $67.23 on Thursday.

Dutch Bros. Inc. (NASDAQ: BROS): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating, and its $44 target price is well above the $37.11 consensus target. The stock closed over 8% lower on Thursday at $26.22. after weak results were posted this week.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL): Disappointing earnings had shares of the Zack’s Bear of the Day trading sharply lower. The stock has traded as high as $284.45 in the past year but closed most recently at $201.79. That is down more than 16% in the past month.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC): Citing relative strength and a better than expected quarterly print, Zacks named this leading packaged foods producer as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $40.65, and the consensus price target of $45.25 would be a multiyear high.

Light & Wonder Inc. (NASDAQ: LNW): The Neutral rating at Susquehanna rose to Positive with a $70 target price. The consensus target is $67.00, and shares closed on Thursday at $60.94.
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Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): The B. Riley Securities upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a $32 target price. The consensus target is $32.97, and Thursday’s close was at $25.62.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $42 from $62. The consensus target is $48.80. Thursday’s $35.95 close was down almost 3% for the day after the downgrade.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC): J.P. Morgan upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral. Its $250 target price compares with a $235.88 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $210.31.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC): Barclays lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight. The $520.06 consensus target is well above Thursday’s $435.85 closing share price.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): Daiwa Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $38 target. The consensus target is $48.30. The last trade on Thursday was for $37.58 a share.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): As Credit Suisse upgraded the shares to Outperform from Neutral, its $40 target price rose to $45. The consensus target is $46.54. Thursday’s close at $28.74 was down over 5% for the day despite solid earnings posted this week.

Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX) Roth MKM upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. It also raised its $37 target price to $48, above the consensus target of $41.62. The shares closed almost 3% higher on Thursday at $39.88 after the upgrade.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE): Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $13 target price. The consensus target is $11.63. The stock closed on Thursday at $13.94, up 4% on the day.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating and bumped its $76 target price up to $78. Needham also reiterated a Buy rating, and it lifted its $68 target price to $75. Citigroup kept a Buy rating and nudged its target price up to $78 from $76. The consensus target is $68.39. The shares were last seen on Thursday trading at $64.53.
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Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO): When Goldman Sachs cut its Buy rating to Neutral, the price target tumbled from $90 to $53. The consensus target is $70.30. The stock closed on Thursday 3% lower to $47.88 after the downgrade.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $175 target price. The consensus target is $164.78. On Thursday, the closing share price was $153.12.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a $130 price target. The consensus target is $125.93. Thursday’s $92.31 close was down almost 9% on the day after a small earnings miss but a big subscriber drop.
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Seven top Dividend Aristocrats are trading at reasonable levels, pay dependable dividends and are solid and safe ideas in a market that looks poised to trade lower after a big run over the past eight weeks.

See which automakers produce America’s deadliest cars.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, Alcon, Antero Midstream, Exact Sciences, GitLab, GlobalFoundries, Halozyme Therapeutics, Lumentum, Nektar Therapeutics, PayPal and Southern Copper.

The post Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, Alphabet, Block, Disney, Kraft Heinz, Mosaic, Pfizer, Roblox, Walmart and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher after a big Friday rally that saw all the major indexes finish the day higher, snapping a four-day losing streak. Solid earnings from Apple and a strong nonfarm payrolls report for April got the party started, and a drop in the unemployment rate kept the risk-on crowd firmly in command until the closing bell.

With almost 85% of the S&P 500 having reported, and earnings growth for the balance of 2023 looking somewhat better, any hopes for a pause in the rate increases, or a cut in rates (which some say the Fed swaps market points to), seems unlikely now. In addition, the odds for a final 25-basis-point increase in June have increased.

On Friday, Treasury yields soared across the curve on the strong employment report, with the shorter maturities seeing the bulk of the selling. The reversal of the regional banks, which were crushed last week, was also cited as a sell signal for bond traders. The 10-year note closed at 3.45%, while the two-year yield jumped a stunning 19 basis points and finished the day at 3.92%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both had a big Friday, which some in the energy complex chalked up to short covering and the strength in the jobs numbers. WTI led the way, closing up over 4% at $71.41. Some analysts and traders also pointed to rumors that Russia was cutting oil production. While the rally was encouraging, oil was still down sharply last week. Natural gas also had a solid Friday, closing up almost 1% at $2.12.
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Gold was the loser Friday, closing down 1.5% at $2025 after posting big gains last week that had it closing in on all-time highs. Bitcoin was also a big-time winner, closing over 2% higher at $29,449.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, May 8, 2023.

Alnylam Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and lifted its $200 target price to $250. The consensus target is $248.50. The stock closed over 3% higher on Friday at $212.05.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and lifted its $170 target price to $195. BofA Securities maintained a Neutral rating and bumped its target price to $176 from $173. Morgan Stanley stayed with an Overweight rating, and its $180 target price is now $185. The consensus target is $171.29. Friday’s $173.57 close was up almost 5% on the day after the company posted solid results, led by big iPhone sales.
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Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAM): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $240 target price to $165. The consensus target is $200.52 for now. The stock was hammered Friday, closing down almost 10% at $135.73, as solid quarterly numbers were offset by discouraging guidance.
Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was to Equal Weight from Underweight, and it bumped its $175 target price to $185. The consensus target is up at $234. Friday’s close at $167.47 was up over 3% for the day after solid results.

Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX): Piper Sandler raised its Neutral rating to Overweight and its $260 target price to $290. That compares with a $282.92 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $253.66.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Needham reiterated a Buy rating, but its $95 target price slipped to $80. The consensus target is $92.27. Shares closed on Friday at $59.25.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Zacks selected this fertilizer maker as its Bear of the Day stock, with the analyst explaining why investors have to be patient with the sector. Shares have traded as high as $119.60 in the past year but closed most recently at $69.64, which is down more than 18% year to date.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS): TD Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and trimmed its $110 target price to $100. The $103.83 consensus target is higher. Friday’s $79.46 final trade was down over 3% for the day despite earnings topping estimates.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade was to Overweight from Neutral. Its $46 target price is less than the $58.10 consensus target. Shares closed on Friday at $36.44.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM): Northland Capital upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a $7 target price. The consensus target is $8.81. Friday’s close was at $4.78.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and bumped its $28 target price to $30. BTIG Research maintained a Buy rating, and its $25 target grew to $27. BofA Securities stayed with a Neutral rating and nudged its target to $25 from $24. The consensus target is $24.71. The stock had a huge Friday, closing up over 15% at $24.58 after a strong earnings beat.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS): UBS started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $73 target price. The consensus target is $77.19. Friday’s close was at $67.30.
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Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Evercore ISI resumed coverage with an In Line rating and a $116 target price. The consensus target is $138.14. The stock closed on Friday at $104.78, which was up over 3% on the day after a solid quarterly report.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade to Neutral from Underweight included a target price hike to $72 from $68. The consensus target is $72.29. On Friday, shares closed at $70.35.

Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLY): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $44 target price. The consensus target is $44.59. Friday’s closing share price of $37.61 was up 8% on the day, after solid results with a weaker than expected outlook.

NV5 Global Inc. (NASDAQ: NVEE): Maxim’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $125 target price. The consensus target is up at $145.64. The shares closed almost 6% higher on Friday at $98.88 after earnings and revenues topped estimates.
Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK): Credit Suisse reiterated a Neutral rating while lifting its $63 target price to $69. The consensus target is $61.94. Friday’s final trade was for $65.53 a share, up over 6% on the day after a strong earnings and revenue beat.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): As UBS upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell, it boosted its $34 target price all the way to $64. The consensus target is $53.12. The stock closed over 8% higher on Friday at $62.03, helped by outstanding quarterly results.

SiTime Corp. (NASDAQ: SITM): Barclays downgraded the company to Equal Weight from Overweight. The analyst slashed the $135 target price to $88, much lower than the $117.25 consensus target. Friday’s $88.29 close was up almost 5% for the day.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): When Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, its $305 target price increased to $375. The consensus target is $372.71. The stock closed at $293.39, up close to 5% on Friday in the wake of solid quarterly results.

TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In line, and the $130 target price is now $150. The consensus target is $136.70. The stock closed at $122.94 on Friday, a 3% one-day gain.

Wesco International Inc. (NYSE: WCC): Baird raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $180 target price. The consensus target is $196.11. Friday’s close was at $129.97, which was up nearly 6% for the day due to strong quarterly results.
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Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): Investors are buying into “the rise of the chicken wing,” says Zacks about its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares last closed at $210.23, after hitting an all-time high of $223.77 late last week.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC): Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight and lifted their target to $22 from $18. The consensus is set higher at $28.08 The last trade on Friday came in at $22.12 up almost 6%.

Zions Bancorp N.A. (NASDAQ: ZION): Baird upgraded the stock to Overweight from Underweight. Its $29 target price is less than the $37.47 consensus target. The stock closed 20% higher on Friday at $23.76 as the regional banks staged a furious rally.
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As interest rates continue to rise and with a recession increasingly likely, nervous investors are turning to five long-term Warren Buffett holdings that are safe and will continue to pay big dividends.

Netflix, Tesla and Uber are among the youngest companies in the S&P 500.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Builders FirstSource, CVS Health, DHT, Incyte, McDonald’s, Newell Brands, PacWest Bancorp, Wingstop and ZoomInfo Technologies.

The post Monday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Block, Comerica, DraftKings, Kellogg, Mobileye, Shopify, VFC and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Almost four months into 2023 and we seemed locked in a trading range that will not break through upside resistance and will not give us the panic shakeout sell-off that would truly end a bear market. Now with first-quarter earnings reports rolling in, we are starting to get a good look at what companies are facing as interest rates and tougher lending standards take hold. Some of the early results have been less than stellar. What makes sense for investors now is moving to dividend-paying value stocks that look better prepared to face the economic challenges coming our way.

Value stocks are typically defined as shares of a company with solid fundamentals that are priced below those of its peers, based on analysis of price-to-earnings ratio, yield and other factors. The BofA Securities Value 10 portfolio is quantitatively generated and is based on the firm’s proprietary model. The universe the analysts use is the S&P 500.

We screened the Value 10 portfolio for the five stocks with the highest dividends. We found five top picks that could be big 2023 winners. While all are rated Buy at BofA Securities, it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.
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Ameriprise Financial

This company has been steadily growing assets under management and is a smart choice for investors looking to add financials. Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP) provides various financial products and services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally.

The company’s Advice & Wealth Management segment provides financial planning and advice; brokerage products and services for retail and institutional clients; discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts; mutual funds; insurance and annuities products; cash management and banking products; and face-amount certificates.

The Asset Management segment offers investment management and advice, and investment products to retail, high net worth and institutional clients through unaffiliated third-party financial institutions and an institutional sales force. This segment’s products also include U.S. mutual funds and their non-U.S. equivalents, exchange-traded funds, variable product funds underlying insurance and annuity separate accounts, as well as institutional asset management products, such as traditional asset classes, separately managed accounts, individually managed accounts, collateralized loan obligations, hedge funds, collective funds and property and infrastructure funds.

The Retirement & Protection Solutions segment provides variable annuity products to individual clients, as well as life and disability income insurance products to retail clients.

The company was formerly known as American Express Financial and changed its name in September 2005.

Investors receive a 1.58% dividend. BofA Securities has a $402 price target on Ameriprise Financial stock. The consensus target is $363.73, and the closing share price on Thursday was $315.76.
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CF Industries

While somewhat off the radar, this stock probably has the biggest upside potential of the top value picks. CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) manufactures and sells hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement and other industrial activities worldwide.
The company’s principal products include anhydrous ammonia, granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate and ammonium nitrate products. The company also offers diesel exhaust fluid, urea liquor, nitric acid and aqua ammonia products, as well as compound fertilizer products with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. It primarily serves cooperatives, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users.

CF Industries is on a self-described path to decarbonize its ammonia production network, which is the world’s largest, to enable green and blue hydrogen and nitrogen products. Its manufacturing complexes in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, offer an unparalleled storage, transportation and distribution network in North America, and logistics capabilities enabling a global reach underpin a strategy to leverage CF Industries unique capabilities to accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy.

Shareholders receive a 2.08% dividend. The BofA Securities price target of $96 is in line with the $96.06 consensus target. CF Industries stock closed on Thursday at $74.46.

Cummins

This top company makes the parts and components for the trucking industry to keep the country moving. Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) designs, manufactures, distributes and services diesel and natural gas engines and engine-related component products worldwide.

The Cummins Engine segment manufactures and markets a range of diesel and natural gas powered engines under the Cummins and other customer brands for the heavy-and medium-duty truck, bus, recreational vehicle, light-duty automotive, construction, mining, marine, rail, oil and gas, defense and agricultural markets. This segment also offers new parts and services, as well as remanufactured parts and engines.

Cummins also provides power generation systems, high-horsepower engines, heavy and medium duty engines, application engineering services, custom-designed assemblies, retail and wholesale aftermarket parts, and in-shop and field-based repair services. The company offers emission solutions; turbochargers; air and fuel filters, fuel water separators, lube and hydraulic filters, coolants, fuel additives and other filtration systems; and electronic control modules, sensors and supporting software, as well as new, replacement and remanufactured fuel systems.

Further, it provides automated transmissions; standby and prime power generators, controls, paralleling systems and transfer switches, as well as A/C generator/alternator products under the Stamford and AVK brands. Its electrified power systems, with components and subsystems, include battery, fuel cell and hydrogen production technologies. And it offers filtration, after-treatment, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, electric power generation systems and batteries.

Cummins stock comes with a 2.66% dividend. The BofA Securities target price is $273, and the consensus target is $259.33. The shares closed on Thursday at $234.48.
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Nucor

This top steel provider could ride a big wave if the economy improves over the next year. Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) engages in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products.
Nucor’s Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks and H-piling and sheet piling products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars and engineered special bar quality products.

The company also engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses. This segment sells its products to steel service centers, fabricators and manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Its Steel Products segment offers hollow structural section steel tubing products, electrical conduits, steel racking, steel joists and joist girders, steel decks, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel products, cold finished steel products, steel fasteners, metal building systems, insulated metal panels, steel grating and expanded metal products, and wire and wire mesh products primarily for use in nonresidential construction applications. This segment also engages in the piling distribution business.

The Raw Materials segment produces direct reduced iron (DRI); brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal. This segment sells its ferrous scrap to electric arc furnace steel mills and foundries for manufacturing process, as well as nonferrous scrap metal to aluminum can producers, secondary aluminum smelters, steel mills and other processors, and consumers of various nonferrous metals.

The dividend yield here is 1.40%. BofA Securities has set its price target at $188. Nucor stock has a $147.54 consensus target, but shares closed at $155.73 on Thursday, up almost 6% on the day following an earnings beat.
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Principal Financial

This well-known company is a solid financial play for more conservative investors. Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: PFG) operates in four main segments: Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS), Asset Management (PGI), International and U.S. Insurance.

RIS delivers full-service accumulation, pension products, annuities, mutual funds and other services to individuals and small-to-medium-sized businesses. PGI is a global asset manager. U.S. Insurance provides individual life and disability insurance and group life insurance. Lastly, the International business sells products in Latin America and Asia.

Investors receive a 3.32% dividend. Principal Financial stock has an $81 price target at BofA Securities. That compares with a $78.33 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $75.99.
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Cyclical industrial stocks, combined with insurance and financial services leaders, are very solid ideas in what could become a tangled stock market this summer. The data show that interest rate increases, while lowering the nagging inflation, may come back to haunt investors in certain sectors like technology, so these five top value plays make good sense now.

The post 5 Analyst Favorite ‘Strong Buy’ Value Stocks With Dependable Dividends appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve stayed the course and raised interest 25 basis points to get the federal funds rate to 4.75% to 5.00%, the highest level since 2007. All the major indexes finished Wednesday lower on a big end-of-the-day sell-off. Most of the ongoing chatter across Wall Street remains focused on the bank contagion and liquidity crisis, which appears to be mostly contained for now.

The big concern for many is that regional and smaller banks will be tightening lending standards. That could crimp the efforts of small business, which employs about 50% of the total workforce. However, J.P. Morgan says that the next shoe to drop may be commercial real estate, as higher rates and lending standards could be a straw that breaks the camel’s back.

After two days of big moves higher, Treasury yields were lower in a big way across the curve, as bond traders keyed in on Fed Chair Powell’s press conference after the rate announcement. While we are likely closing in on the end of the rate hikes, a burst of inflation could keep them in place for longer than currently anticipated.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished the day higher after OPEC announced it would not be changing current production levels despite last week’s plunge in benchmark pricing. The group cut production late last year and will be staying put. Natural gas finished lower, down almost 6% at $2.20. Gold rebounded Wednesday to close up over 1.4%, while Bitcoin’s run higher ended in a big down day as the cryptocurrency giant was mauled to the tune of 3.5% and closed at $27,209.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is $75.77. The stock closed on Wednesday at $63.63.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $355 target price. The consensus target is $377.73. The shares closed at $296.24 on Wednesday.

Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its $31 target price to $28. The consensus target is $35.31. The stock closed almost 6% lower on Wednesday at $21.46.
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Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and has a $22 target price. The consensus target is just $10.11, and the stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $9.18.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Citing negative earnings estimate revisions, Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $119.60 in the past year but closed most recently at $71.19, which is down more than 16% year to date.

ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHPT): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $10 target price. The consensus target is up at $17.83. The stock closed on Wednesday at $8.99.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED): Argus upgraded the legacy utility to Buy from Hold. Its $104 target price is well above the $89.43 consensus target. Wednesday’s close was at $92.10.

DoubleVerify Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DV): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Overweight from Sector Weight and has a $30 target price. The consensus target is $35.20. Wednesday’s $28.01 close was up close to 3% for the day on the upgrade.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH): Susquehanna raised its Neutral rating to Positive with a $275 target price. The consensus target is up at $298.85. Wednesday’s close was at $202.15.

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE: HWM): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $50 price objective. The consensus target is $46.65, and shares closed on Wednesday at $40.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX): The prior Peer Perform rating at Wolfe Research is now at Outperform, but the $65 target price is less than the $67.56 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $55.96.

Krispy Kreme Inc. (NASDAQ: DNUT): Truist Financial’s upgrade to Buy from Hold included a target price hike to $20 from $15. The consensus target is $15.40. The stock closed up over 6% on Wednesday at $15.31.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): The KeyBanc Capital Markets upgrade was from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $240 target price. The consensus target is lower at $219.28. The final trade on Wednesday was for $199.81 a share.
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New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB): Raymond James resumed coverage with a Strong Buy rating and a $13 price target. The consensus target is $10.57. The stock closed on Wednesday at $8.76, down almost 5% on the day.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): When Barclays upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight, its $110 target price increased to $154. The consensus target is $130.03. The stock closed on Wednesday at $119.50, which was down close to 5% for the day.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its $275 target price to $300. The consensus target of $259.23 is lower than Wednesday’s $264.68 closing price.

OpenText Corp. (NASDAQ: OTEX): Barclays resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $41 target price. The consensus target is $57.57. The stock closed over 3% lower on Wednesday at $37.04.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM): Wolfe Research upgraded the builder to Outperform from Peer Perform. Its $64 target price compares with a $66.09 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $55.93.

Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ROP): J.P. Morgan upgraded the shares to Neutral from Underweight. The analyst also boosted the $385 target price to $420, though the consensus target is $494.72. The stock closed on Wednesday at $428.58.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Loop Capital lifted its Hold rating to Buy and boosted its $105 price target to $115. The consensus target is $123.71, Wednesday’s close was at $102.61.

Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC): The B. Riley Securities upgrade to Buy from Neutral came with a target price hike to $52 from $34. The consensus target is $44.63. The stock closed on Thursday at $31.99, up almost 4% on the day.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT): Guggenheim upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, and it lifted its $120 target price to $155. The consensus target is $128.39. The last trade on Wednesday was for $128.20 a share.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (NYSE: SHO): Compass Point’s downgrade was to Sell from Neutral, and its $12 target price is now $9. The consensus target is $10.75. The shares closed at $9.03 on Wednesday.
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Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG): Compass Point’s Neutral rating rose to Buy with a $7.50 target. The consensus target is $6.65. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $6.03.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $22 target price. The consensus target is $19.50. Wednesday’s close was at $9.58.

Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG): As Guggenheim upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, it bumped its $35 target price to $36. The consensus target is $38.33. The stock closed on Wednesday at $30.87.
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With oil selling off recently but demand poised to surge later in the year, seven top dividend-paying energy infrastructure stocks could be great total return buys now.

See why one short seller has taken a contrarian stance on a key lithium miner.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Danaher, Emerson Electric, Foot Locker, GoDaddy, Harley-Davidson, Meta Platforms, New York Community Bancorp, Nvidia, Prologis, Rio Tinto, Simon Property and Vornado Realty Trust.

The post Thursday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Carnival, Enphase Energy, Meta Platforms, Nike, Nvidia, Ross Stores, Spotify, Transocean and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading higher on Wednesday after a dreadful start to the holiday-shortened trading week. All the major indexes were hammered on Tuesday. Extremely poor results and guidance from big-box retailers Walmart and Home Depot set the tone early, and some very worrisome geopolitical news later in the day stirred the pot even more. Chinese President Xi announced a summit with Vladimir Putin in Russia, as Putin rattled the nuclear saber once again while suspending Russia from the START nuclear arms treaty.

To compound things Tuesday in the ongoing inflation drama, Goldman Sachs said the Federal Reserve will hike the federal funds rate 75 basis points more on stronger growth, which, as we have noted recently, likely translates to 25-basis-point increases in March, May and July. Some on Wall Street feel that the terminal rate for federal funds could end up as high as 6%.

Treasury yields spiked much higher across the curve, which analysts also cited as a big reason for the equity weakness on Tuesday. The benchmark 30-year bond closed at a 3.98% yield, which is its highest level since late December. The inversion between the 10-year and the two-year notes widened yet again as well, with the former closing at 3.96% and the latter at 4.73%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished lower, with Brent down close to 2% on the day. While the recent backup in energy prices could tame inflation somewhat, many across Wall Street feel that prices will surge as the year goes on. Natural gas was crushed on Tuesday, closing down almost 9%. Gold finished the day flat, while Bitcoin closed down 2.25%, after a big run last week, to end the day at $24,252.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: LNT): Guggenheim raised its Sell rating to Neutral and its $46 target price to $52. The consensus target is up at $57.50. Tuesday’s closing share price was $53.34.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Stifel lifted its $220 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $245. The consensus target is $234.22, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $215.55.

Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $130 price target. The consensus target is just $101.39, and shares ended Tuesday’s session at $90.21.
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AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN): Though J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral, it also raised its $125 target price to $130. The consensus target is higher at $150.89. The stock closed Tuesday at $143.38, down close to 9% on the day, after posting inline results for the quarter last week.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $116 target price. The consensus target is up at $122.52. Tuesday’s close was at $105.97.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BJ): The strength of the U.S. consumer is helping this warehouse club retailer, says Zacks about its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $75.17, which is up more than 13% year to date.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with an $832 target price. The consensus target is just $788.15, and the shares closed on Tuesday at $695.75.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): When HSBC Securities downgraded the stock to Reduce from Hold, it also reduced its $104 target price to $90. The consensus target is $107.21. The stock closed on Tuesday at $83.48.

Constellation Energy Corp. (NYSE: CEG): The Buy rating at BofA Securities has dropped to Neutral, and the analyst also lowered the $104 price objective to $88. The consensus target is $99.85. On Tuesday, the stock closed 5% lower at $80.37.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU): UBS’s downgrade was from Hold to Sell with a $52 target price. The consensus is up at $63.36 for now. Tuesday’s $59.61 close was down almost 8% for the day on the downgrade and the weak tape.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $28 target price. The consensus target is $23.60. The stock closed on Tuesday at $19.96.
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Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: FOCS): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform. Its $53 target price is still above the $51.57 consensus target. Tuesday’s close was at $49.75.

Generac Inc. (NASDAQ: GNRC): The Truist Financial downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $145 target. The consensus target is $143.61. The shares ended Tuesday trading at $111.77, down almost 9% on the day after multiple analyst downgrades.

MarineMax Inc. (NYSE: HZO): B. Reilly Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, but the firm also trimmed its $53 target price to $52. The consensus target is just $38.50. Tuesday’s final trade was for $34.07 a share.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): HSBC Securities downgraded the stock to Reduce from Hold, and it trimmed its $45 target price to $43, even farther from the $57.24 consensus target. Tuesday’s closing share price was $48.86.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC): Wolfe Research’s upgrade was from Peer Perform to Outperform with a $255 target price. The consensus for the railroad giant, which has been all over the news after the derailment in Ohio, is $251.24. The stock closed on Tuesday at $224.55.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Stifel raised its $175 target price on the Hold-rated chip giant to $207. That compares with the $207.34 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $206.55.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $100 target price. The consensus target is $96.06. The stock closed over 4% lower on Tuesday at $90.96.

RE/MAX Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RMAX): Stephens downgraded the real estate giant to Equal Weight from Overweight. The analyst also dropped its $28 target price to $21, below the $23.40 consensus target. Tuesday’s $18.70 close was down over 5% for the day on the downgrade and last week’s inline earnings.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $50 target price. The $51.46 consensus target is a little higher, but Tuesday’s final trade was at $35.49, down 4% on the day.

Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 target price. The consensus target is $9.44. The stock closed on Tuesday at $6.22, down close to 6% for the day on the weak tape and the day’s big dip in Bitcoin.
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SentinelOne Inc. (NYSE: S): Wells Fargo downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight. Its $18 target price compares with the $21.34 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $15.32.

Trustmark Corp. (NASDAQ: TRMK): Raymond James upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform with a $34 target price. The consensus target is $32.00. The shares closed on Tuesday at $29.68.

TXO Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: TXO): After its recent successful initial public offering, Capital One started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $35 target price. Raymond James started it at Strong Buy with a $34 target price, while Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $31 target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $23.25, which was up close to 3% for the day on the positive Wall Street coverage.
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The best strategy for worried investors now may be to move from riskier assets to dividend-paying stocks that can hold their ground if we slip into a recession, such as six top defensive picks from the Goldman Sachs Conviction List.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Axalta Coating Systems, Canada Goose, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola, Coinbase Global, Datadog, DraftKings, GE Healthcare Technologies, MongoDB, Monster Beverage, Roku, TechnipFMC, Toast, XP and Zim Integrated Shipping Services.

The post Wednesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Constellation Energy, DraftKings, Mosaic, Norfolk Southern, Nvidia, RingCentral, Riot Platforms, SentinelOne and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher on Valentine’s Day, after a big Monday to start the trading week in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. The big data release Tuesday is the January consumer price index (CPI) numbers, and while the year-over-year results were higher at 6.4% (versus 6.2%) and the year-over-year core numbers were above estimates at 5.6% (versus 5.5%), the month-over-month numbers came in as expected. The move higher will clearly give the Federal Reserve all the ammo needed for another 25-basis-point increase in March.

J.P. Morgan recently said that the current rally is likely to be the high point for this year, while Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson, who made a strong bearish call last year, feels that lows for stocks will come in the spring, noting that risk-reward for investors now is “as poor as it has been.”

Treasury yields closed lower on Monday, as the bond market waited for the aforementioned CPI. Worried investors have been flocking to the safety of higher yields in the short maturities. The two-year paper closed Monday at 4.52%, while the 10-year note closed at 3.72%, maintaining the widest inversion since 1981.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed slightly lower on Monday. This came after a big week last week in which the crude benchmarks surged 8.5% higher, the largest advance for the two since early in October. Natural gas had another rough day Monday, falling almost 3% and trading at levels not seen since September of 2021. Gold and Bitcoin both finished Monday lower.
[nativounit]
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Roth MKM downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and cut its $180 price target to $140. The consensus target is $165.16, and the stock closed on Monday at $152.19.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a target price boost from $32.00 to $43.50. The consensus target is $38.80. Monday’s close was at $40.39.
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Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Though Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating on the biotechnology giant, it lowered its $280 target price to $260. The consensus target is $261.03. Monday’s final trade was for $243.66 a share.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Baird cut its Overweight rating to Neutral and its $290 target price to $230. The consensus target is $252, and Monday’s closing share price was $248.15.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Scotiabank’s downgrade was to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform, and its $118 price target is now $100. The consensus target is $110.63. The stock closed over 4% lower on Monday at $86.85.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has a volatile recent history and a weakening outlook, says the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $107.31 in the past year but closed most recently at $83.47, which is down more than 11% year to date.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $72 target price, which is well above the consensus target. The shares closed Monday’s session at $56.40.

Fastly Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLY): When BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Underperform, it raised its $10.50 target price to $16. The consensus target for now is $10.45. The shares closed on Monday at $12.60, which was up 27% on the rare double upgrade.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE): Roth MKM’s upgrade was to Buy from Neutral. It also boosted its $180 target price to $240, well above the $202.87 consensus target. The shares ended Monday trading at $207.01.

Globus Medical Inc. (NYSE: GMED): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Underperform from Buy and slashed its $83 target price to $63. That compares with the $74 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $59.43.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $95 target price. The $89.19 consensus is somewhat closer to Monday’s closing price of $80.08 a share.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS): As Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Hold from Sell, the analyst lifted the $43 target price to $56. The consensus target is $56.41. Monday’s close at $56.56 was up close to 3% on the day.
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Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $65 target price. The consensus target is $62.18. The last trade on Monday was for $39.77 a share.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM): The Exane BNP Paribas upgrade was from Neutral to Outperform with a $60 target price. The consensus target is $73.18. Monday’s close was at $48.30.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): BofA Securities initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $64 target price. The consensus target is $81.53. The shares closed on Monday at $75.56.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): The Underweight rating at Piper Sandler was lifted to Neutral, and its $133 target price rose $138. The shares have a consensus target of $139.71 and the most recent close was at $108.43.
Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and its $130 price target to $145. The consensus target is $129.26. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Monday at $122.88.

Sprout Social Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT): Cantor Fitzgerald’s downgrade was from Overweight to Neutral with a $53 target. The consensus target is $72.36. The shares closed on Monday at $60.95.

Toast Inc. (NYSE: TOST): KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated an Overweight rating and bumped its $26 price target to $30. The consensus target is $24.47. The stock’s close on Monday at $23.94 was up 5% for the day.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $15 target price. The consensus target is $12.63, and shares closed Monday at $10.74.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $135 price target. The consensus target is $131.97. The stock closed on Monday at $107.66.
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Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ: WFRD): Making the case for this oilfield services provider as an industry standout, Zacks named it the Bull of the Day stock. Shares closed on Monday at a 52-week high of $69.44, and the $75.75 consensus price target signals about 9% additional upside.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line. The analyst also raised the $34 target price to $41, above the $40.88 consensus target. The shares closed almost 5% higher on Monday at $44.15 on the upgrade.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM): The Barclays downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight came with a price target reduction from $26.50 to $15.00. The consensus target is up at $29.71. Monday’s $20.97 close was down almost 7% for the day on the downgrade.
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With dark clouds on the economic horizon, seven Warren Buffett stock picks appear to be well positioned in the current higher interest rate environment and likely to hold up better than others should the market retest the lows printed back in October.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Affirm, Bloom Energy, FREYR Battery, International Flavors & Fragrances, Interpublic Group of Companies, Lyft, Micron Technology, Nutrien, Seagate Technology, Tapestry, VFC, Walmart and Western Digital.

The post Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amgen, Caterpillar, Coinbase, Disney, Match, Newmont, Toast, Under Armour and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Markets ended September and the third quarter with a thud. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 saw their first three-quarter losing streak since the financial crisis in 2008. The Dow Jones industrial average was slightly more resilient but still had its worst span of losses since 2015. However, with the start of the fourth quarter hopefully comes new beginnings and opportunities for investors.

Each of the major averages opened on a positive note, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 up about 1% each, while the Dow lagged with about a half a percent gain.

Even with this solid start, there is a dark cloud looms over Wall Street. Specifically, Credit Suisse issued a memo over the weekend looking to convince major investors of the firm’s good financial standing. However, this backfired in spectacular fashion and the stock is down roughly 4%. It was down as much as 10% in premarket trading.

Previously, Credit Suisse had said that it was looking into the potential liquidation of some assets and business units, but the full plan will not be revealed until later this month. It is anyone’s guess where the Swiss bank will go from here.

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Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Amgen, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, Nike, Wells Fargo and more.

Box Inc. (NYSE: BOX): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the $32 price target to $34. Shares traded near $26 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $22.31 to $33.04.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $47 from $54. Shares were last seen trading near $41. The 52-week range is $41.06 to $73.72.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Outperform from Sector Perform, and it raised the $110 price target to $135. Shares have traded as high as $119.60 in the past year but were near $101 on Monday, which is up about 36% year to date.

DocuSign Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was to Equal Weight from Overweight, and it slashed the $73 price target to $47. Shares traded near $52 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $51.12 to $288.50.

Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): BofA Securities cut its Neutral rating to Underperform and lowered the price target to $27 from $31. The stock was last seen trading near $29, in a 52-week range of $19.35 to $36.38.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): The RBC Capital Markets downgrade to Sector Perform from Outperform came with a price target cut to $65 from $85. The shares traded near $49 on Monday. The 52-week range is $33.59 to $79.28.
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New Gold Inc. (NYSE: NGD): As RBC Capital Markets changed its Sector Perform rating to Outperform, it also nudged the $1.00 price target up to $1.25. The 52-week trading range is $0.61 to $2.02. Shares changed hands near $1 apiece on Monday.

New Relic Inc. (NYSE: NEWR): The Overweight rating at J.P. Morgan was reduced to Neutral, and the $150 price target was slashed to $57. The 52-week trading range is $41.66 to $129.70. The share price was near $56 on Monday.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): Truist upgraded it to Buy from Hold. The analyst also raised the $7 price target to $11. The 52-week trading range is $3.81 to $9.87. The share price was near $6 on Monday.

Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO): Argus downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold. Shares were last seen trading near $70, in a 52-week range of $66.26 to $128.87.
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Seven dividend-paying sin stocks look like outstanding values now and should hold up well even in a protracted bear market. For investors not put off by these alcohol, gambling, tobacco, weapons and other stocks, they may have solid portfolio potential, regardless of the economy.

With global electric vehicle sales surging, is Tesla keeping up?

The post Credit Suisse’s Horror Story, and Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Citigroup, Southwestern Energy and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded up Thursday after a massive risk-off rally on Wednesday in which all the major indexes closed higher. The Nasdaq led the way with a stunning 2.9% gain. The reason for the huge moves was the consumer price index reading for July that came in below expectations at 8.5% year-over-year. While this strengthens the “peak inflation” narrative, much of the drop was due to the decline in energy prices.

The gasoline index dropped 7.7% in July, which was the largest month-over-month decline in this component since April 2020. Note that energy prices overall fell 4.6% over the past month, but they can turn on a dime at any time. There will be another inflation report next month before the Federal Reserve governors meet in late September.

The hope of perhaps a lower 50-basis-point increase next month in lieu of the anticipated 75-basis-point or even a 1% increase, had buyers rushing back into the Treasury market, where yields were down across the curve, with the exception of the 30-year long bond, which closed at a 3.04% handle.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both traded higher Wednesday, with WTI closing well over $91 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported a large build in crude stocks but also cited a very large draw in gasoline inventories. Natural gas was 5% higher, closing at $8.23, while gold closed down modestly and Bitcoin closed over 3% higher on the day, just shy of $24,000.
[nativounit]
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, August 11, 2022.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Baird kept a Neutral rating and lowered its $102 price target to $95. The consensus target is higher at $117.86. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $95.99.

Allbirds Inc. (NASDAQ: BIRD): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the $12 price target to $5. The consensus target is $7.75. Wednesday’s close was at $4.68.
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Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS): HSBC downgraded the shares from Buy to Hold with an $11 target price. The consensus target is $15.39. Wednesday’s close was at $10.95.

Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Goldman Sachs raised its $18 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $25. The consensus target is $17.92. The stock closed almost 29% higher on Wednesday at $23.58 after topping second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates.
Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN): Lake Street started coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 target price. The consensus target is $9.33. Wednesday’s close at $3.71 was up almost 21% after investor RJB Partners increased its stake in the company.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Citing a beat-and-raise quarter and an acquisition, Zacks selected this software maker as the Bull of the Day stock. The shares last closed at $186.34, and the $194.35 consensus target would be a 52-week high.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Barclays upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the $103 price objective to $120. The consensus target is $109.30. The shares closed on Wednesday at $102.31.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Despite keeping a Sell rating on the stock, Goldman Sachs boosted the $45 target price to $51. The consensus target is up at $108.23. The shares ended trading Wednesday at $94.14, which was up over 7% on the day.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR): Baird maintained a Neutral rating but raised the $86 target price to $100. That compares with a $101.23 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $87.54.

Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR): Morgan Stanley cut shares of the battery giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $35 target price. That compares with the $38.89 consensus targert and Wednesday’s close at $31.

Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NASDAQ: ETRN): Wells Fargo upgraded the shares from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $13 target. The consensus target is $9.00. The stock closed almost 8% higher on Wednesday at $9.46 on no news we can find except the upgrade.

Frontier Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ULCC): Barclays resumed coverage on the carrier with an Overweight rating after its failed bid to buy Spirit Airlines. Its $19 target price compares with the $16.83 consensus target and Wednesday’s last trade at $14.22 a share.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the lodging giant and has a $94 target price. The consensus target is $100.63. The stock ended Wednesday’s session at $88.09.
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Lemonade Inc. (NYSE: LMND): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $35 target price. The consensus target is $29.81. The last trade on Wednesday was filled at $28.66.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the chip giant and cut the $60 price target to $45. The $77.67 consensus target is well above Wednesday close at $61.40, which was up close to 4% for the day.

NerdWallet Inc. (NASDAQ: NRDS): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $15 target. The consensus target is $17.43. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $9.96.

Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $92 target. The consensus target is $94.07. The stock closed on Wednesday at $77.11.
Repay Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: RPAY): Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and dropped the $19 target price to $13. The consensus target is $19.30 for now. The stock closed Wednesday at $10.25, which was down over 20% on the day as second-quarter earnings and revenues came in below estimates.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): Atlantic Equities upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and has a $46 target price. The consensus target is $76.93. The stock closed up over 10% on Wednesday at $40.61. Shares added on almost 4% in premarket action.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO): DZ Bank downgraded the video game giant to Hold from Buy and has a $135 target price. The consensus target is $166 for now. The last trade for Wednesday came in at $123.79, up almost 3% for the day, following Tuesday’s selling after the company missed earnings estimates as consumer spending slows.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating, and its $80 target price is higher than the $72.32 consensus target. The tech stock was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day due to its flatlining earnings. Wednesday’s close at $74.24 was up 36% for the day after revenues soared.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and lifted its $54 target price to $60. The consensus target is $60.08. The company is trying to Buy AppLovin, and shares closed Wednesday at $55.57, up over 10% on the proposed $17 billion purchase.

V2X Inc. (NYSE: VVX): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy and nudged the $42 target up to $45. The consensus target is $53.50. The stock was last seen Wednesday at $39.71, up a massive 33% on the day after posting huge second-quarter results.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): Guggenheim upgraded the entertainment giant to Buy from Neutral and raised the $110 price objective to $145. The shares closed Wednesday at $112.43, up 4% for the day. The stock was trading almost 9% higher in the premarket after posting stellar results.
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For income investors: Seven quality stocks can survive in a turbulent market, and they pay big and dependable dividends. Not only do the companies provide goods and services needed regardless of prevailing economic conditions, they also are strong players in their respective sectors.

Is now the time to place a bet on casino stocks? And Barclays sees two winners and two losers after earnings.
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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Bed Bath & Beyond, Carlyle, Coinbase Global, Enovix, GoodRx, Healthcare Realty Trust, Micron Technology, NRG Energy, Nutrien, Nvidia, Roku, Take-Two Interactive Software and Tellurian. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Okta, RealReal, Twilio, Vertex Energy and more.

The post Thursday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Array Technologies, Blue Apron, Coinbase, Disney, Emerson Electric, Micron Technology, Shopify, Take-Two Interactive and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Markets pushed higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq leading the charge higher, up almost 2% on the day. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials lagged, each up about 1%. This came on the heels of two consecutive down days for markets and a highly controversial politician visit to Taiwan.

While investors are watching the bounce from these back-to-back losses, more economic data is on the horizon in the form of Friday’s July employment report. Consensus estimates are calling for nonfarm payrolls to increase by 250,000 and private payrolls to increase by 223,000. Note that nonfarm payrolls rose by 372,000 in June.

Even Jim Cramer of CNBC is noting the significance of the July report. He commented on “Mad Money” that if the report is solid, “the fabulous July rally can stand.” However, if the report does not live up to expectations, “then some of this rally, if not much of it, is going to be repealed.”

Cramer’s reasoning behind this assumption is that the Federal Reserve will either have to slam on the brakes harder, in terms of interest rates, or it can coast and have what many are calling a “soft landing.” We will have to wait until Friday to see how this shakes out.

[nativounit]

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Caterpillar, Chesapeake, Ford, Plug Power, Uber and more.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $117 price target. The 52-week trading range is $43.19 to $113.49, and shares slipped below $97 apiece Wednesday morning.

Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX): Bernstein lifted its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $65 price target. Stephens downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the $80 price target to $45. The 52-week trading range is $41.69 to $92.17. Shares changed hands near $48 apiece on Wednesday.

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR): Credit Suisse’s downgrade was to Underperform from Neutral, and it trimmed the $7 price target to $6. The shares traded below $6 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $3.28 to $15.09 a share.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Evercore ISI’s downgrade to In-Line from Outperform included a price target cut to $78 from $90. Guggenheim’s downgrade was to Neutral from Buy. The 52-week trading range is $61.91 to $84.86, and the share price was more than $73 Wednesday morning.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): SMBC Nikko upgraded the shares to Neutral from Underperform and raised the $90 price target to $100. The 52-week trading range is $67.58 to $296.70. The stock traded near $99 on Wednesday.

Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE: SEE): The Sector Perform rating at RBC Capital Markets rose to Outperform, and the $66 price target increased to $70. The 52-week trading range is $54.51 to $70.72, and shares were trading near $57 on Wednesday.

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XPeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV): Macquarie’s Outperform rating was cut to Neutral with a $25 price target. The stock traded near $23 on Wednesday. The 52-week trading range is $18.01 to $56.45.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL): Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform. It also raised the $77 price target to $96. The stock traded near $96 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $72.08 to $138.78.

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Energy MLP stocks have backed up big-time and are offering some of the best entry points for income investors this year. Seven are Buy rated at top Wall Street firms, pay huge distributions and look like great total return picks now.

The post Will July’s Employment Report Make or Break? Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade PayPal, XPeng and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures were trading higher on an options expiration Friday, as we get set to wrap up a dumpster-fire week that featured two horrific inflation reports that have assured consumers and investors of a 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate at the end of the month. To make things worse, a full 1% increase is being priced at an 80% level of probability.

All the major indexes and sectors closed lower Thursday, with the exception of the Nasdaq. A so-so batch of earnings, including some lousy numbers from the big banks, combined with the producer price index inflation report (the highest on record) got the risk-off crowd selling from the opening bell.

Sellers also returned to the Treasury markets, as yields were up across the curve, and the two-year and 10-year note inversion was still in play. The two-year yield closed at 3.12%, while the 10-year yield closed at 2.96%. Again, the bond market often views that inversion as a sign of a recession.

The only good news on Thursday was the continuing slide in Brent and West Texas Intermediate, both closing down near 3%. Beleaguered consumers should be seeing some relief at the pump soon. Gold closed lower, while Bitcoin traded higher on the day, up 1% and back over the $20,000 level.
[nativounit]
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, July 15, 2022.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the chip heavyweight to Outperform from Market Perform and raised the $100 price objective to $115. The consensus target of analysts is $133.16. The shares closed on Thursday at $78.60.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating on the technology giant but lowered the $215 price target to $210. The consensus target is $174.91. The last trade on Thursday hit the tape at $110.63.
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Amphenol Corp. (NYSE: APH): J.P. Morgan upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and have an $83 price objective. The consensus target is $83.77. The closing share price on Thursday was $64.74.

CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW): J.P. Morgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight with a $200 price target. The consensus target is up at $217.06. Thursday’s final trade was reported at $65.12.
Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised the $82 price to $115. The consensus target is $96. Thursday’s close was at $85.96.

CF Industries Inc. (NYSE: CF): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $73 target price. The consensus target is $110.61. The stock closed almost 6% lower on Thursday at $80.65  on no news except the initiation.

F5 Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV): Credit Suisse’s downgrade to Neutral from Outperform included a price target cut to $225 from $197. The consensus target is $214.47. Thursday’s close was at $144.85.

Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV): Wells Fargo downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered the $123 price target to $97. The $125 consensus target also compares with Thursday’s final print of $91.66.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP): Barclays upgraded shares of the drilling giant to Overweight from Equal Weight and has a $52 target price. The consensus target is $53.78. The last trade Thursday came in at $38.26.

IDEX Corp. (NYSE: IEX): Oppenheimer raised its Perform rating to Outperform with a $215 price target. The consensus target is $224.85. Shares closed on Thursday at $181.36.
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Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $36 target price. The consensus target is $36.19, and the stock closed on Thursday at $28.03.

Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LW): This food processor has bucked the market’s downtrend due to higher prices for its product offerings, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $73.95, which is up more than 16% year to date.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM): Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform but cut the $404 price objective to $384. The consensus target is $429.37. Thursday’s close was at $315.77.

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW): When Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform it also cut the $23 price target to $17. The consensus target is $21.50. The last trade Thursday was posted at $15.55 a share.
MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has fallen steadily since last year and is in an established downtrend, says the analyst. The shares have traded as high as $1,970.13 apiece in the past year but closed most recently at $655.69. That is down more than 51% since the beginning of the year.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Credit Suisse initiated coverage on the fertilizer giant with an Outperform rating and a $60 price target. The consensus price objective is higher at $73.47. The stock closed Thursday at $43.67, which was down almost 6% for the day.

New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE): Citigroup resumed coverage with a $56 target price. The consensus target is $57.11, and the shares ended trading on Thursday at $39.19, down close to 5% on the day.

Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO): Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, and the $5.50 price target rose to $6.50. The consensus target is $7. The shares closed almost 10% higher on Thursday at $4.91, likely due to the upgrade.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. (NYSE: RBA): BofA Securities upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $75 target. The consensus target is $77.67. The stock closed almost 11% higher on Thursday at $66.80 on no news except the upgrade.

TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight. The firm’s $134 target price is less than the 52-week high of $166.44, but shares closed most recently at $112.38.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Truist Financial started coverage of the electric vehicle heavyweight with a Buy rating and a $1,000 target price. The consensus target is $893.46. The stock closed on Thursday at $714.94.

Watsco Inc. (NYSE: WSO): Though Baird upgraded the shares to Outperform from Neutral, it also lowered the $350 target price to $313. The consensus target is $298.38. The shares closed at $249.25 on Thursday.
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Overall, the Dow Jones industrial average stocks have outperformed those of the Nasdaq or S&P 500. Five of the highest-yielding Dow stocks look like great ideas now, as they pay investors handsomely to wait out the bear market.
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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Digital Ocean, D.R. Horton, Freeport-McMoRan, Intel, Nvidia, Rivian Automotive, Tesla and Twitter. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Cisco Systems, Costco, Dollar General, Starbucks and more.

The post Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Amazon, Juniper Networks, Medical Properties Trust, Mosaic, Payoneer, Tesla and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

Markets were somewhat mixed as the week came to a close. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials each saw a slight loss on the day, while the Nasdaq had a handy gain, up over 0.5%. Despite this small bounce, each of the major averages is on track for posting a fairly sizable loss for the week.

On this day last week, the consumer price index saw its highest print in over four decades. This historic reading necessitated action by the Federal Reserve, which we saw Wednesday when the central bank hiked interest rates by 75 basis points, its first hike of this size since 1994.

As interest rates increase, investors can expect to see an inverse reaction from equities. Currently it does not appear that the Fed is done hiking rates this summer, so there may be more pain for investors down the road. Also, the question remains: how much of these moves by the Fed has been priced into markets already?

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Friday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Amgen, AutoZone, Boeing, Dollar General, Etsy, FedEx and more.

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American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO): B. Riley Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and cut the $22 price target to $13. The 52-week trading range is $11.43 to $38.99, and shares traded above $11 apiece on Friday.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Robert Baird upgraded the shares from Neutral to Outperform with a $175 price target. The 52-week trading range is $136.49 to $199.55, and shares were trading near $139 on Friday.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF): Robert Baird also upgraded this one to Outperform from Neutral, and it has a $145 price target. The 52-week range is $98.54 to $177.95. Shares traded near $104 apiece on Friday.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Citigroup’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $99 from $123. The stock traded near $89 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $43.19 to $113.49.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW): Citigroup lowered its Buy rating to Neutral rating and cut the $82 price target to $60. The shares traded near $55 on Friday. The 52-week trading range is $52.07 to $71.86.

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NextEra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: NEP): RBC Capital Markets upgraded it to Outperform from Sector Perform, and the firm raised the $86 price target to $89. The stock traded near $69 on Friday. The 52-week trading range is $61.31 to $88.80.

Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX): Truist downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and cut the price target to $29 from $36. The 52-week trading range is $21.65 to $141.60, and shares were changing hands at around $25 on Friday.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN): The B. Riley Securities downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and the price target was cut to $23 from $35. Shares were trading near $20, in a 52-week range is $17.81 to $42.10.

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Proper asset allocation should always include some holdings of precious metals. Seven top BofA Securities gold stock picks pay quite respectable dividends and look like great ideas now for worried investors.

See which key analyst expects big things from American Express and three other top financial stocks.

The post How Much Pain Is Already Priced In? Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade American Express, Dow, Roblox and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

When farm equipment maker Deere reported first-quarter earnings two weeks ago, the stock price fell to a 52-week low, less than a month after the shares had posted an all-time high. The share price plunge was due in part to rising costs for farmers. Fuel, fertilizer and new equipment all cost more and the prices will be rising. The overall assessment is that farmers must buy fuel, fertilizers and other supplies before they will buy new equipment.
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Analysts at Stifel recently issued an update on the fertilizer market and how that will affect three top fertilizer makers: Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) and Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR). The firm’s analysts expect “a more normalized price environment trending [for]ward, though all is contingent on some return to normalcy, particularly in energy.”

Crop prices are expected to remain elevated due to weather-related supply constraints, and high fertilizer prices have led manufacturers to dust off old project plans to increase capacity. Stifel’s analysts note:

These projects certainly carry execution and timing risk, but we believe the significant disruption caused by the conflict in Ukraine and China’s indecisiveness as a marginal exporter is driving a shift for net importing countries to revisit projects that, while not necessarily economically competitive in normalized price environments, provide important security of supply. We plan to monitor this more closely.

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Nutrien

Nutrien was formed in 2018 when a merger between two Canadian fertilizer makers (Agrium and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan) created the world’s largest potash miner in a deal valued at around $36 billion, including debt. Stifel maintained its Buy rating on the stock while lowering its price target from $125 to $123. The stock traded at around $94 in the noon hour Friday.

In comments on their rating, the analysts noted:

We favor Nutrien for its high-quality and balanced exposure to fertilizer markets, given the firm’s significant assets in potash and nitrogen, as well as its defensive position in crop product retail. Nutrien is also unique in its strong pipeline of accretive “tuck-in” retail acquisitions, [its] potential for larger scale M&A transactions in Brazil [and its proven execution of] redeploying capital from recent significant divestments …

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Risks to the price target include commodity price risk, macro and geopolitical risk, management’s failure to execute on cost-savings plans, along with operational and regulatory risks to crop inputs.

Stifel maintained its Hold rating on Mosaic stock and lowered the $70 price target to $67. The stock traded near $59 in the noon hour Friday. Earlier this year, Mosaic acquired privately held Plant Response, a biological-based provider of crop inputs and technology. The acquisition was Mosaic’s first since 2016’s $2.5 billion purchase of Vale’s fertilizer business in Brazil.
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Stifel’s analysts commented:

Mosaic is a global leader in phosphate and potash nutrients, which benefit from comparatively lower demand elasticity versus other globally traded commodities due to their vital role in crop growth. Potash markets should remain relatively stable, but upside is limited, owing to Nutrien’s plan to keep markets balanced via excess capacity for the foreseeable future. This leaves Mosaic’s fate to be largely decided by phosphate markets, where we do not see an immediate catalyst for improvement.

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Risks include lower-than-expected fertilizer prices, declines in crop prices, a stronger U.S. dollar, operating risks, geopolitical risks and mine operating risks.

The Hold rating on CF Industries was maintained, but the $107 price target was cut to $93. The stock traded at around $95 in the noon hour Friday. The company is the world’s largest producer of nitrogen, and it benefits from relatively lower demand elasticity than many commodities because soil nitrogen must be replaced every year.
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Stifel noted that nitrogen markets have recovered thanks to Chinese-led rebalancing of the market and a slowdown in production capacity growth. However, Stifel commented, “we believe near-term upside may be limited by declining nutrient affordability and the recent reversion in fossil fuel feedstock spreads.”

Risks to the price target include lower coal and gas prices, lower-than-expected fertilizer prices, declines in crop prices, a stronger U.S. dollar and operating risks.

The post Stifel Update Identifies Top Fertilizer Industry Investment appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher Thursday, after a promising start to Wednesday, credited in some part to comments from the Atlanta Fed President that there could be a pause in the interest rate hikes in September, turned into selling across the board by the close. All the major indexes, including the transports and utilities, closed lower. Some solid earnings from Salesforce got the party rolling but the enthusiasm quickly waned, as it appears that big rally from last week is pulling the risk-off crowd back to the table.

Yields were higher across the Treasury curve, as the Federal Reserve began its balance sheet runoff. Maturing bonds will not be replaced during this program, while the quantitative easing program of buying treasury and mortgage-backed debt ended back in March.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were mixed on Wednesday, and both are closing in on $120 a barrel. Natural gas closed modestly higher, while gold closed flat and Bitcoin was down close to 6% on the day, back below the $30,000 level.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, June 2, 2022.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Zacks has named this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst cites strong earnings and upbeat guidance in the face of ongoing supply chain bottlenecks and a slowing economy. Shares last closed at $164.77, and the consensus price target of $202.04 would be an all-time high.

Aptiv PLC (NYSE: APTV): Goldman Sachs lowered its $150 price target on the Buy-rated company to $135. The consensus target is $145.83. The stock closed on Wednesday at $107.52.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Baird maintained an Outperform rating and a $112 target price. The consensus target is $116.72. The final trade Wednesday came in at $74.37.
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CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Barclays initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $103 target price. The consensus target is $112.88. The stock closed over 3% lower on Wednesday at $95.51.

Finvolutions Group (NYSE: FINV): Citigroup upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and raised the $3.27 price target to $5.33. The consensus target is $6.21. The stock closed over 7% higher on Wednesday at $4.52.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): Goldman Sachs lowered its $18 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $14. The consensus target is $17.66. The stock closed at $13.55 on Wednesday.

Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating but cut the $78 target price to $69. The consensus target is $80.67. The stock closed on Wednesday at $60.63.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Barclays initiated coverage with an Underweight rating and a $59 price objective. The consensus target is $76.05. The shares ended Wednesday over 6% lower to $58.69.

O-I Glass Inc. (NYSE: OI): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $24 target. The consensus target is $15.92. The final trade Wednesday was for $16.90 a share.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK): Truist Financial lifted its Hold rating to Buy, and its $19 price target went to $22. The consensus target is $22.50. The stock closed 3% higher on Wednesday at $18.60.

Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating but lowered the $85 target price to $72. The consensus target is up at $107.20. The shares closed on Wednesday at $64.35.

Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE): BTIG Research upgraded the shares from Neutral to Buy with a $60 target. The consensus target is lower at $43.25. Wednesday’s $37.27 close was up almost 3% on the day.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target boost to $22.75 from $21. The consensus target is $20.25. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $18.89.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight, and its $35 target price dropped to $23. The consensus target is $30.07. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Wednesday at $18.93.
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Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): KeyBanc Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $40 target. The consensus target is $36.64. The stock closed Wednesday at $17.92, down over 3% for the day.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Baird reiterated a Buy rating after the company reported outstanding results, but the firm lowered the $300 target price to $260. The consensus target is $264.99. The stock closed Wednesday at $176.07, which was up almost 10% on the back of the strong earnings print.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight came with a price target cut to $18 from $30. The consensus target is $34.30 for now. The shares closed at $13.93 on Wednesday.

Temper Sealy International Inc. (NYSE: TPX): Piper Sandler downgraded the popular mattress company to Neutral from Overweight and reduced the $36 price objective to $28. The consensus target is $37.56. The $24.64 close on Wednesday was down almost 5% on the day.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Goldman Sachs lowered the $1,200 price target on the electric vehicle heavyweight to $1,000, while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $928.40. The stock closed almost 7%  lower on Wednesday at $24.64.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO): Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the $175 price target to $110. The consensus target is $211.62. The shares closed on Wednesday at $104.27.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN): Zacks selected this retailer as its Bear of the Day stock, calling it one of the many victims of soaring prices and supply chain setbacks. The stock has traded as high as $42.10 a share in the past year but closed most recently at $21.96, which is down more than 25% year to date.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VEEV): Baird maintained an Outperform rating with a $228 target price after the company’s positive earnings report. The consensus target is $241.78. The shares closed Wednesday at $167.84 and were up over 5% in Thursday’s premarket.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Maxim upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy with a $335 target. The consensus target is $291.93. The stock closed on Wednesday at $269.41.

Visteon Corp. (NASDAQ: VC): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Underweight and boosted the $72 price target to $93. The consensus target is $126. The shares closed at $113.00 on Wednesday.
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With interest rates and inflation rising, what are balanced growth and income investors to do? Jefferies favors on six top BDC stocks that offer outsized dividends and growth potential.

Also, see why one key analyst turned cautious on four REIT stocks.
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Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Allbirds, Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters, Canopy Growth, Citizens Financial, Cleveland-Cliffs, Etsy, Deere, LyondellBasell Industries, Medtronic, PayPal, Steel Dynamics and Truist Financial. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Danaher, eBay, GoodRx, Infosys, Valero Energy, Xylem and more.

The post Thursday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Analog Devices, Ford, Mosaic, Pinterest, Plug Power, Salesforce, Snap, Tesla, Urban Outfitters and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..

The futures traded higher, as weary investors are probably ready to shut the door on one of the most volatile trading weeks on Wall Street in years on this Friday the 13th. More discouraging inflation news came as the producer price index checked in with a brutal 11% year-over-year increase, above estimates for the month, but slightly lower than the reading for March.

While the major indexes moved back and forth after a big sell-off to start the day, all finally closed mixed, after each posted 52-week lows. With the S&P 500 falling below key support levels at the 4,000 mark and closing at 3,930, many strategists feel that the venerable index could be poised to sink to 3,700, and perhaps even more.

The Treasury market was an odd anomaly, as one thing has become clear. Despite the obvious and telegraphed increases coming for federal funds, likely a 50-basis-point raise at every Federal Reserve meeting this year, investors are seeking safe harbors, and obviously there are big concerns over an economic slowdown coming, which means more stagflation worries. Yields across the curve were lower Thursday, with the 10-year note well off the 3% level and the 30-year long bond closing at 2.98%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were modestly higher on the day but failed to post the super-charged gains from earlier in the week, while natural gas traded higher but remained well under the pivotal $8 mark. Gold closed the day down almost 2%, while once again the crypto market was hammered, with Bitcoin bouncing slightly to end the day marginally lower, after falling below $26,000 in the morning. The crypto leader is down 38% year to date.
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24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, May 13, 2022.

Amdocs Ltd. (NASDAQ: DOX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $99 price target. The stock is a top pick at the firm. Shares closed almost 8% higher on Thursday at $82.93.
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AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): While Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating, it also dropped its $100 price target to $74. The consensus target is $86.07. The shares closed Thursday at $36.74, up an incredible 35% after the company was reported to be considering a sale of its app business to focus on the higher-margin software silo.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform but trimmed the $16 price target to $13. The consensus target is $17.73. Thursday’s close was at $7.89.
B&G Foods Inc. (NYSE: BGS): Cost inflation is hitting the maker of Green Giant, says Zacks, which named this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $36.52 in the past year but closed most recently at $23.83, which is down more than 22% year to date.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the aerospace and defense giant and has a $225 price target. The stock has traded as high as $258.40 in the past year but ended Thursday at $123.14, which was down close to 5% for the day.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF): Stifel lowered the $107 price target on the Hold-rated shares to $93. The consensus is target is $112.18. The shares closed over 3% higher on Thursday at $98.63.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell and slashed the $83 target price to $64. The consensus target is $105.71. The stock closed over 2% on Thursday at $66.01.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): Baird is very positive on the Outperform-rated stock and added it to the firm’s Fresh Picks list of top new ideas. The $120 price target compares with the $110.22 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $56.05, which was up over 7% on the day.

Dutch Bros Inc. (NASDAQ: BROS): Baird kept an Outperform but cut the target price in half to $30. The consensus target is $65.44 for now, after the stock closed Thursday at $25.11, down close to 27% after first-quarter results missed the estimates on Wall Street.

DigitalOcean Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DOCN): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $49 price target. The consensus target is higher at $59.67. The last trade Thursday was reported at $33.68, up over 9% for the day on no reported news we could find.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the biotech giant and has a $63 price target. The consensus target is $69.56. The shares closed over 3% higher on Thursday at $62.48.
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International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and a $165 price target on the venerable technology giant. The consensus target is $144.16. The stock closed at $132.90 on Thursday.

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $26 target price. The consensus target is up at $36.09. Thursday’s close was at $20.18.

Playa Hotels & Resorts N.V. (NASDAQ: PLYA): This was selected as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks, with the analyst suggesting that travelers are headed to Mexico and the Caribbean again. The stock last closed at $8.22 a share, and its $13.00 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the electric vehicle shares but lowered the $84 price objective to $67. The consensus target is $77.29. The stock was last seen Thursday at $24.30, up almost 18% after the company posted a very solid forward-looking scenario.
Roblox Inc. (NYSE: RBLX): Goldman Sachs stuck with a Neutral rating on the shares and has a $39 price target. That compares with the much higher $52.89 consensus target and Thursday’s $28.58 closing print, which was up almost 20% for the day. Despite it posting a big sales miss, bargain hunters are very keen on the shares at this level.

VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE: VICI): Baird remains very bullish on the gaming real estate investment trust and has a $33 price target objective. That compares with the higher $35.08 consensus and Thursday’s close at $27.44.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the legacy credit card heavyweight. The $290 price objective is higher than the $268.92 consensus target. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $193.97.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the media and theme park giant but slashed the $205 target price to $148. The consensus target is near $159, but shares were last seen Thursday at $104.31, which is down a stunning 47% this year.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: YETI): Though Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the cooler heavyweight, it also lowered the $90 target price to $70. The consensus target is $80.29. The $45.30 a share final trade on Thursday was over 3% higher on the day.

ZipRecruiters Inc. (NYSE: ZIP): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating after solid results, and it has a $30 price target. The consensus target is $33. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $18.88, up a massive 15% after a solid increase in first-quarter revenue.
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Five Goldman Sachs Conviction List stock picks are ideas that aggressive investors with longer time horizons and a higher risk tolerance may want to consider, given the host of woes that continue to pressure the equity markets.
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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alcon, Array Technologies, AZEK, Boeing, Capital One Financial, Coinbase Global, Corning, Electronic Arts, Harley-Davidson, ON Semiconductor, Playtika, Peloton Interactive, Unity Software, Walmart and Wynn Resorts. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on American Express, AppLovin, Beyond Meat, Ford, General Motors, Rivian Automotive, Synchrony Financial, Zoom Video Communications and more.

The post Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades Downgrades: Boeing, Disney, Gilead Sciences, IBM, Rivian, Roblox, Visa and More appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..