The futures were up big Monday morning on the first trading day for February. After last week’s wild and crazy volatility ride, which saw the VIX surge to 37 on Thursday, hedge funds pounded by the Reddit retail army, and all the indexes closed down right at 2% Friday, hopefully things calm down some. Top analysts on Wall Street are starting to point to “bubble” type metrics, and the stunning gains and losses in the short interest plays are an example. Many are urging caution.

With fourth-quarter earnings reports slowing but still streaming in, most across Wall Street will not only be examining the results but looking to see what guidance for the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With all of the major indexes and the Russell 2000 still very close to all-time highs, despite Friday’s downturn, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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, February 1, 2021.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell with a $1 price target at MKM Partners. The consensus target price is $2.44. The stock is one of the Reddit retail army targets, and it closed Friday at $13.26, up over 50% on the day. Shares were almost 20% higher in the premarket.

Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was downgraded to Underweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets, which has a $24 price target. The consensus target is $29.38. The stock closed Friday at $35.33, after rising over 5%, and this is another Reddit traders target. The shares were flat in the premarket.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse, which raised the price target on the consumer staples giant to $80. The consensus target is $54.45. The shares were last seen Friday at $78.00.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) saw its price target raised to $320 from $302 at Telsey Advisory Group, which kept an Outperform rating on the stock. The consensus price target is $337.31. The last trade on Friday hit the tape at $291.38.

Gatos Silver Inc. (NYSE: GATO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $14.50. The lower consensus target is $10. The stock closed Friday at $13.21. The Reddit traders are targeting silver stocks this week, and the shares are up almost 17% in the premarket.

GOGO Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO) was downgraded at JPMorgan from Neutral to Underweight with a $10 price target. That compares with a higher $11.33 consensus target and Friday’s $13.40 close. The stock was trading over 3% lower in the premarket.

Halliburton Inc. (NYSE: HAL) was raised from Neutral to Overweight with a $22 price target at Piper Sandler. The consensus target for the oil services leader is $21.97. The stock closed trading on Friday at $17.63.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the tax software giant’s biggest quarter keeps getting revised down after an epic run in the stock. Shares last closed at $361.23 and have a consensus price target of $416.38.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Securities. The pharmaceutical company has traded in a wide range over the past 52 weeks of $17.91 to $185.98 on the strength of a successful COVID-19 vaccination. The consensus target is $145.92, but shares closed way above that level on Friday at $173.16.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Wedbush, which raised the price target to $25. The consensus target for the electric vehicle company is $26.67. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $23.09 a share.

Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN) was raised at JPMorgan from Neutral to Overweight with a $30 price objective. The consensus objective is $25.73, and the shares ended Friday’s session at $23.91, down almost 5% on the day. The stock rebounding in the premarket by over 4%.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) saw its price target lowered at Cowen to $80 from $83. The firm kept its Outperform rating. The consensus price target is $79.35. Friday’s final trade came in at $67.80, down over 5% on the day.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) saw its target price raised to $112 from $82 at Needham, which maintained a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus price target is $113.47. The stock closed Friday at $101.05.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $58 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. That compares with a $46.83 consensus target and Friday’s $43.30 closing print.

Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) was downgraded at Stifel from Buy to Hold with an $83 price target. The much lower consensus target is $53.35. The shares were last seen on Friday at $95.44, down almost 5%.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR) saw its price target raised to $37 from $26 at Needham, which kept a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $33.90, and the final Friday trade was reported at $31.61. Shares were up almost 3% in the premarket.

Vericel Corp. (NASDAQ: VCEL) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that restoring cartilage in sports medicine and rebuilding skin after severe burns gave this stock big upside. Shares most recently closed at $41.27 and have a consensus price target of $43.76.

ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, though the analyst raised the price target on the broadcasting and programming giant to $49. That compares with the lower $34.99 consensus and Friday’s closing trade of $48.50, which was down almost 5% for the day.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SPCE) was downgraded at Morgan Stanley from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $30 price objective. The consensus objective is $30 as well. The shares closed Friday at $44.29 and were up over 8% in premarket action. This is yet another Reddit traders target stock, and it has been on fire.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell with a $110 price target at UBS. The consensus target for the retailer is $112.53. The stock ended Friday’s trading at $128.92, down almost 4%.

Four companies could be among the next stocks that the Reddit retail army goes after. Their stocks have solid Buy ratings at major Wall Street firms, and they could really take off with positive earnings news or any other catalyst that would spook the short sellers.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included ADT, ADP, Baxter, Boeing, NRG Energy, Ralph Lauren, Skyworks Solutions, Stitch Fix and Western Digital. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Biogen, Duke Energy, Ford, 3D Systems and more.

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