The futures were all higher on the first trading day of June, after a wild May that saw some big back-and-forth swings across all the indexes. Stocks posted gains last week despite the 0.7% increase in the core personal consumption price gauge for April that came in as the biggest monthly gain for the inflation metric since October 2001. Investors will continue to keep a very close eye on additional inflation-related readings and other economic data. This week all eyes will be focused on Friday’s May jobs report.

Despite the concerns across Wall Street about tapering of the quantitative easing program and the clear building inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained, which could one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. Also 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, June 1, 2021.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM): BofA Securities raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $71 price target. The consensus target for the recently public company is higher at $76. The shares closed Friday at $60.81, which was up over 6%.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ALSN): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Buy and lowered the price target to $42. The posted consensus target is $44.50, and the shares closed most recently at $42.31.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Cowan upgraded the aerospace and defense giant to Outperform from Market Perform and raised the price target to $270. The consensus target is $260.65. Boeing’s last trade came in at $247.02 on Friday.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI): This was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the stock already has benefited from the economic comeback, alongside other cyclical areas, and its outlook appears strong after it topped first-quarter estimates in early May and raised its guidance. Shares most recently closed at $257.28 and have a consensus price target of $293.12.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): Raymond James raised the stock to Strong Buy from Outperform and also hiked the price target to $40. The consensus target is $32.77. Friday’s last trade was reported at $26.56. Shares were up over 3% in Tuesday’s premarket.

EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR): Raymond James raised the stock to Strong Buy from Market Perform has a $62 price target. The consensus target is just $45.29. The shares ended trading on Friday at $49.15.

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR): Bernstein raised the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $28 price target. The lower consensus target is $22.46, and Friday’s last print was $21.91 a share.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV): When Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral it also lowered the price target to $165. The much higher $218.94 consensus target compares with the most recent close at $185.43.

GFL Environmental Inc. (NYSE: GFL): Goldman Sachs raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $38.50 price target. No consensus price objective was available. The stock closed at $32.54.

Ilumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): Evercore ISI Raised the stock to In Line from Underperform, and it has a $400 price target. The consensus target is $408.12. The last trade to hit the tape last week came in at $405.64.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): Evercore ISI raised the robotic surgery maker’s stock to Inline from Underperform. It has traded in a wide 52-week range of $543.03 to $893.79 and has a consensus price objective of $881.29. Friday’s closing trade came in at $842.18 a share.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and lowered the price target to $86. The consensus target is set at $90.69, and the last trade on Friday came in at $81.37.
Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO): Citigroup upgraded shares of the electric vehicle maker to Buy from Hold, and it also raised the price target to $58.30. That compares with the $52.89 consensus target and Friday’s last print of $38.62. Shares were up smartly in the premarket.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS): Truist Securities started the stock with a Buy rating and a $115 price target. The consensus target is at $101.40, and the last trade on Friday came in at $88.61.

Sprout Social Inc. (NASDAQ: SPT): KeyBanc Capital Markets resumed coverage on the company with an Overweight rating and an $82 price target. The consensus price objective is $83.10, and the shares were last seen trading at $69.42.

Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock from Inline to Outperform and also raised the price target to $285. The consensus target is $273, and the stock closed most recently at $255.27.

Taleris Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TALS): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $35 price target. No consensus target was available as the stock had a recent initial public offering. It ended trading Friday at $16.07 a share, which was up almost 7% on the day. The shares added another 5% in premarket action.

Valneva S.E. (NASDAQ: VALN): Guggenheim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $35 price target. The consensus target is not available, as this was another recent initial public offering. The last trade on Friday came in at $25.98, up over 6% for the day. The stock was trading almost 5% higher in the premarket.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM): BofA Securities upgraded the retailer to Neutral from Underperform and raised the price target to $180. The consensus target is $168.17, and the stock was last seen trading at $169.54.

With school soon to be out and COVID-19 restrictions largely loosening or over, families are getting ready for their long-awaited annual summer exodus. Five top stocks are poised to do great over the next 90 days given the reopening of the economy and pent-up demand.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Best Buy, Costco, Intel, Kansas City Southern, Nikola, Plug Power and Salesforce.com. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Dollar General, HP, Johnson & Johnson and more.

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