The futures were mixed on Monday, after a wild Friday that saw the nonfarm payrolls come rolling in dramatically lower than estimates, stunning all across Wall Street and rallying all the major indexes. The 266,000 jobs added, while normally solid, were well below the 965,000 consensus estimate and stole the show, as many economists and strategists have started to change their narratives for the balance of the year. The concern for many was that the expected massive jobs additions would press the Federal Reserve to taper quantitative easing bond purchases sooner than expected, but that may be put on the backburner for now.

Despite the taper concerns and clear inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained, which could be one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. Note also that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

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 balance 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, May 10, 2021.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Citigroup downgraded the search and technology giant to Neutral from Buy and has a $2,415 price target. The consensus target is higher at $2,721.85. The stock closed Friday trading at $2,351.93.

AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): Credit Suisse started the recent IPO with an Outperform rating and a $95 price target, while JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $80 target. Truist Securities continued the trend, starting the shares at Buy with a $76 price target. The stock had a very rough debut and has traded down dramatically from the IPO pricing and closed Friday at $57.26.
Argenix S.E. (NASDAQ: ARGX): H.C. Wainwright upgraded its Neutral rating to Buy and raised the price target to $400. The consensus target is lower at $342.26. The stock closed Friday at $263.70.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (NYSE; BFAM): Citigroup raised the shares to Buy from Neutral, but it lowered the price target to $170. The consensus target is in line at $170.75, and the final trade for Friday came in at $136.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH): The Baird downgrade to Neutral from Outperform included the price target lowered to $64. The posted consensus target is $63.13, and the last trade to hit the tape on Friday was reported at $58.16, which was up almost 3% for the day.

Cogent Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI): When RBC Capital Markets upgraded it to Outperform from Sector Perform, the firm also lifted the price target to $84. The consensus target is just $74.20, and the shares closed on Friday at $78.00.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE): JPMorgan raised its rating to Neutral from Underweight and has a $108 price target. The consensus target is up at $118.23, and the stock closed trading on Friday at $95.68.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. It also raised the price objective to $170, which compares with the consensus target of $139.58. Friday’s close was at $147.01 a share.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): Citigroup downgraded the shares of the social media colossus to Neutral from Buy and has a $320 price target. The consensus target is higher at $381.55, and the last trade on Friday came in at $319.08.

iHeartMedia Inc. (NASDAQ: IHRT): JPMorgan’s upgrade to Overweight from Neutral included the price target on the broadcasting company hiked to $29. The consensus target is $25.86, and the last trade Friday came in at $22.64, which was a 14% gain after posting revenues that beat estimates. The stock tacked on an additional 4% gain in Monday’s premarket.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Atlantic Equities downgraded the legacy semiconductor giant to Underweight from Neutral, and it lowered the price target to $45. The consensus price objective is much higher at $66.17, and the stock was last seen Friday at $57.67.

Leaf Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: LEAF): BTIG Research downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and has an $8.50 price target. The consensus target is $8.50, and the shares closed Friday at $8.50.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV): As Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, it also raised the target price to $96. The consensus target is lower at $86.50, and the final Friday trade was reported at $79.96, after almost a 7% gain for the day.
Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day and said that this stock has been all over the place recently, though it certainly has consistent growth. Shares last closed at $237.27, and the consensus price target is $279.67.

Oracle Inc. (NASDAQ: ORCL): Barclays downgraded the venerable tech giant to Equal Weight from Overweight, and it has an $80 price target. The consensus target is $72.55. The shares closed Friday at $80.40, just slightly below the 52-week high. So, this could be a straight valuation call after a solid run for the stock.

Pinterest Inc. (NYSE: PINS): Arete started coverage with a Buy rating. The shares have traded in a wide 52-week range of $15.82 to $89.90 and have an $86.88 consensus price objective. The final Friday trade came in at $59.86.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC): Raymond James raised the banking giant to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $220 price target. That compares with a lower $191.42 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $198.91.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $276 price target. The posted consensus target is higher at $296.41, and the stock ended trading Friday at $220.40.

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: SWBI): Zacks named this its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst said that super-strong growth and a great valuation mean most investors will put a target on this stock. The stock most recently closed at $19.71 and has a consensus price target of $23.60.

TopBuild Corp. (NYSE: BLD): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In Line from Outperform and lowered the price objective to $234. The consensus target is up at $246, and Friday’s final trade came in at $223.93.

The drastic changes in the way business is being done now may be here for good. These four Jefferies growth stock picks look poised to advance into the future and have some big upside to the firm’s price targets.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included ConocoPhillips, Darden Restaurants, General Dynamics, Peloton International, Roku, Tilray, ViacomCBS, Wayfair and Wingstop. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Etsy, Monster Beverage, Nokia and more.

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