The futures traded higher on Tuesday after another manic Monday that saw a big move higher in the Dow Jones industrials, while the S&P 500 traded lower and the Nasdaq was pummeled, closing in correction territory, down over 11% from the February 16 all-time high. With the U.S. Senate approving an amended $1.9 trillion stimulus package over the weekend, it moves back to the House for a final vote this week.

Top analysts on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, so last week’s volatility may stick around.

With fourth-quarter earnings reporting all but complete, most across Wall Street have not only been examining the results but also looking to see what guidance for the balance of the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 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 Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, which lowered the price target to $35. Stifel also downgraded the stock, to Hold from Buy, and lowered the price target to $27. The consensus target is a much higher $62.65. The stock closed Monday at $45.78, down almost 7% on the day, and shares were plunging in the premarket, down almost 45% after the FDA notified the company there were problems with its application for a psychosis drug.

Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) was raised at Wells Fargo from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $12 target price. The consensus target for the energy company is $10.11. The last trade for Monday came in at $9.72.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was started at Citigroup with a Buy rating and a $1424 price target. The consensus target for the auto parts giant is $1406.44. Monday’s closing share price was $1241.11.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was started at Citigroup with a Sell rating and an $86 price target. The consensus target for the retail electronics and appliance giant is a much higher $118.19, and the stock was last seen on Monday at $106.57.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN) was downgraded at Deutsche Bank from Buy to Hold with a $28 price target. That compares with the $26.92 consensus target and Monday’s $27.22 final print.

Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE: BRX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which raised the price target to $22. The consensus target is $19.87, and Monday’s closing trade was reported at $20.78, which was up over 3% for the day.

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $30 price target at Stifel. The posted consensus target is $27.75. The stock closed Monday at $25.39, down over 3% for the day, but shares rallying almost 4% in the premarket.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was raised from Accumulate to Buy with a $37 price target at Johnson Rice. The consensus price objective is just $26.43. The final Monday trade was reported at $24.57, which was down over 4% for the day.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was downgraded from Buy to Accumulate with an $88 price target at Johnson Rice. The consensus target for the energy giant is $75.03. The stock closed on Monday at $74.59 a share.

Extended Stay America Inc. (NASDAQ: STAY) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, which raised the price target to $19. The lower $17.67 consensus is still above Monday’s closing price of $16.79.

Lemonade Inc. (NYSE: LMND) was started at BofA Securities with an Underperform rating and a $29 target. The much higher consensus target is $107.67, and Monday’s close at $86.75 was down almost 7% for the day.

Lightspeed POS Inc. (NASDAQ: LSPD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BTIG Research. The shares have traded in a range of $28.29 to $82.53 over the past year. There is no consensus target as the company had a recent initial public offering.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company is the global king of memory chip technology and a driving force in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Shares most recently closed at $85.05 and have a consensus price target of $107.80.

Pure Storage Inc. (NYSE: PSTG) was raised at Deutsche Bank from Hold to Buy with a $27 price target. The consensus target is $29.42, and the stock closed on Monday at $19.37, down over 6% for the day.
QuantumScape Corp. (NYSE: QS) was started with an Outperform rating and a $57 price target at Cowen. The consensus target for the shares of the battery company backed by Bill Gates and Volkswagen is $56.75. The stock closed Monday at $46.87, up almost 6%, and the shares were up an additional 5% in the premarket.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) was raised from Hold to Buy with a $6.75 price target at Johnson Rice. The consensus target is just $4.50. The shares closed at $3.78 on Monday.

Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) was downgraded at Deutsche Bank from Buy to Hold with a $54 price target. The consensus target is $54.13. Monday’s last trade of $68.52 was down over 6% for the day.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT) was downgraded at Goldman Sachs from Neutral to Sell with a $12.50 price target. The consensus target is $11.67, and the last Monday trade came in at $17.12. The shares were down over 4% in the premarket and have been on a roller-coaster after the Reddit/WallStreetBets crowd zeroed in on the highly shorted company.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) was started with a Buy rating and a $415 price target at Jefferies. The consensus objective is even higher at $508.75. Monday’s close at $320.59 a share was down almost 5% on the day. Shares rebounded over 4% in the premarket.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was raised at Wells Fargo from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $40 price target. The consensus target is $32.25, and the shares closed on Monday at $33.67.

Xpeng Inc. (NASDAQ: XPEV) was raised from Sell to Buy with a $34 price target at Daiwa Securities. The consensus target is a much higher $54.43, and the stock last closed at $26.92, down almost 4% on Monday.

Goldman Sachs has added three top software stocks to its well-respected Americas Conviction List.

Note that Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has purchased over 800,000 shares of DraftKings. And see why renowned hedge fund manager David Tepper insists that now is not the time to be bearish on equities and growth investor Louis Navellier expects a market surge.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, Coca-Cola, Fastly, First Solar, Lemonade, Marvell Technology, Peloton Interactive and Target. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Bumble, NextEra Energy, Wheaton Precious Metals and more.

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