The futures were all trading higher Tuesday, as the furious rally from last week gave way to some profit-taking and selling on Monday. All the major indexes, with the exception of the Russell 2000, ended lower, but they closed well off the worst levels off the day. All eyes on Wall Street this week will be focused on the earnings reports from the big box, specialty and discount retailers. Some strong earnings reports would indicate that stimulus money is going into circulation and the reopening trade is alive and well.

Despite the concerns across Wall Street for tapering of the quantitative easing program and clear building 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 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 Tuesday, May 18, 2021.

Adicet Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: ACET): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $34 price target. The consensus target is $27.50, and the shares ended Monday’s trading session at $13.18.

Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE: LNT): Mizuho upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and also raised the price target to $61. The consensus target is $58.56. The stock closed Monday at $56.48 a share.

Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and has a $38 price target. The consensus target is $42.02, and the shares ended trading Monday at $36.96.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $90 price target. That compares with a $98.07 consensus and Monday’s closing print of $60.89.

Banco Santander S.A. (NYSE: BSMX): JPMorgan’s upgrade to Overweight from Neutral comes with a $6.50 price target. The consensus target is up at $7.05, and Monday’s last trade came in at $5.81.

CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CASI): BTIG started coverage with a Buy rating and a $4 price target. The consensus is $4.27, but the stock closed Monday at $1.44.

Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC): Evercore ISI raised the shares to Outperform from Inline and has a $125 price target. The posted consensus target is $121.55, and the stock was last seen on Monday at $83.33.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): This cybersecurity play was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day. The firm points out that earnings estimates have been cut on this endpoint security leader. Shares last closed at $188.53 and have a consensus price target of $253.23.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS): Credit Suisse raised the apparel retail giant to Neutral from Underperform and has a $23 price target. The consensus target is $29.89, and the stock closed above both levels Monday at $36.33.

II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI): Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered the price target to $65. The consensus price objective is up at $92.22. The shares ended Monday’s trading at $63.57 apiece.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): Barclays resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and an $85 price target. The higher consensus price objective is $91.60. The last trade to hit the tape Monday came in at $72.18 per share, after rising over 3% on the day.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC): Credit Suisse resumed coverage of the energy giant with an Outperform rating and a $74 price target. The consensus target is $66.62, and the shares closed Monday at $61.52 apiece.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA): Daiwa Securities raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $402 price target. The higher $426.47 consensus also compares with Monday’s last print of $363.30.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM): JPMorgan’s upgrade to Overweight from Neutral included a price target hike to $47. The consensus target is $44.20, and the shares ended trading on Monday at $38.75.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Raymond James upgraded the cybersecurity leader to Outperform from Market Perform, and it has a $400 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $446.65, and the stock closed Monday at $335.80.

Pool Corp. (NASDAQ: POOL): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $535 price target. The consensus price objective just $441.71, and the shares closed Monday at $435.67.

Snowflake Inc. (NASDAQ: SNOW): Rosenblatt raised its rating to Buy from Neutral and has a $285 price target. The consensus price objective is set higher at $296.77. Monday’s final trade was posted at $212.65.

Surface Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: SURF): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is $16.25, and the stock ended trading Monday at $8.46.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V): Daiwa Securities raised the shares to Outperform from Neutral and has a $259 price target. The consensus target is set higher at $264.39, and the final Monday trade came in at $226.44 a share.

Stocks of four technology giants are for various reasons down big this year but may be poised to have a very solid second half of 2021 as supply chain issues are resolved and overall economic conditions trend back to normal.

Find out why Texas Roadhouse is expected to see big gains from the reopening trade and why analysts are falling in love with one hot biomanufacturing firm.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Foot Locker, Halozyme Therapeutics, Kimberley-Clark, Occidental Petroleum, Texas Roadhouse, Trip.com and Williams Companies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Children’s Place, Discovery, NextEra Energy, Walt Disney and more.

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