The futures were higher across the board on Monday, as traders and investors returned from the long holiday weekend. Although markets were closed on Friday, Wall Street was presented with outstanding nonfarm payroll numbers for March that came in at a stunning 916,000, versus the much lower consensus of 675,000. That was the fastest growth since August 2020. Gains were strongest in leisure and hospitality, as the reopening grew almost daily, while construction jumped by a very bullish 110,000 and the unemployment rate declined to 6.0%.

While top strategists on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading by the WallStreetBets and Robinhood crowd, some say that volume is starting to wane. Most investors now will be turning their attention to first-quarter earnings results, which start in earnest next week.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength, while repositioning portfolios for the start of the second quarter and 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 Monday, April 5, 2021.

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, which also raised the price target to $166 from $95. The posted consensus target is $157.29, and the stock closed most recently at $168.90 a share.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley Securities, which raised the price target on the movie theatre giant to $13 from $7. The consensus target is $3.44. The most recent close was at $9.36 a share. The stock was up almost 4% in Monday’s premarket.

Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ: BAND) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Underweight to Equal Weight with a $40 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $194.38. The stock closed Thursday at $126.74.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: CZR) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $92 price target. The consensus target is $100. The stock ended last week at $88.94 a share.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets, which raised the price target to $310 from $275. The consensus target is $279.42, and the most recent close was at $276.49.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was started at Wells Fargo with an Overweight rating and a $14 price target. The consensus target is $11.93, and the stock closed most recently at $12.17.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) also was started with an Overweight rating at Wells Fargo, which has a $67 price target for the shares. The consensus target is $64.48, and the most recent close was at $57.80.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm pointed out that people are no longer excited about this company’s motorcycles anymore. Shares last closed at $39.96 but have a consensus price target of $38.38.

Invitae Corp. (NASDAQ: NVTA) was raised from Perform to Outperform with a $48 price target at Oppenheimer. The much higher $64.60 consensus is also well above the most recent close at $39.19 per share.

JetBlue Airway Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was raised at Raymond James from Market Perform to Outperform with a $24 price target. The consensus target for the airline is $18.77, and the final trade for last week hit the tape at $20.27. The stock was almost 4% higher in the premarket.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company is not just a “one-trick pony” of returns during the global lockdowns. Shares most recently closed at $107.98 and have a consensus price target of $123.28.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was raised at Morgan Stanley from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $45 price target. The consensus target is $37.55. The shares closed at $39.70, up almost 5% on Thursday.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was resumed in coverage at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating and a $265 price target. The consensus target for the legacy software giant is $272.71. The stock ended last week at $242.35 per share.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) was resumed in coverage at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating and a $425 price target. The consensus target for the cybersecurity software leader is up at $447.35. The stock closed most recently at $328.05.

Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX) was started with a Buy rating and a $78 price target at Truist Securities. The lower consensus target is $72.50. Morgan Stanley started the stock with an Overweight rating and an $80 target, while Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating and a $78 target. The shares ended last week trading at $67.34 and were trading over 5% higher in Monday’s premarket. The company recently priced a very successful initial public offering.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was resumed in coverage at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating and a $260 price target. The consensus target is $275.31, and the stock closed most recently at $218.72.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) was raised at Citigroup from Sell to Neutral with a $310 target. That compares with the $311.73 consensus target and Thursday’s final trade of $273.10 a share.

Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI) saw its target price raised to $82.50 from $73.50 at Hovde, which also raised the rating on the bank to Outperform from Market Perform. The consensus price target is $77.63. The share price was last seen at $70.20.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush, which raised the price target on the electric vehicle leader to $1,000 from $950. The consensus target is just $619, and the shares closed most recently at $661.75. The stock was almost 8% in the premarket.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U) was resumed in coverage with an Outperform rating and a $170 price target at Credit Suisse. That compares with the lower consensus target of $139.58 and the latest close at $101.08 per share.

Three Goldman Sachs top oil stock picks are all solid ways for investors to play the upswing in crude prices and an improving 2021 economy. They offer a degree of safety and income, as well as exposure to a sector with good upside potential.

Last Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Carnival, Dow, Goldman Sachs, Micron Technology, Netflix, Oracle, Snap, Spotify and Twitter. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Amazon, Peloton, Uber and more.

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