The futures were trading lower on Thursday as investors focused on Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell’s comments to Congress, especially when discussing the recent inflation readings, which are coming in at some of the highest levels in years. Two of the major indexes closed higher, with the S&P 500 once again posting an all-time high, while the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 closed lower.

U.S. wholesale prices surged again in June, signaling that a recent bout of high inflation likely will last at least through the summer. The Producer Price Index jumped 1% last month, a much higher reading than Wall Street expectations. The reason for the consistent worry across Wall Street is that the overall pace of wholesale inflation over the past 12 months moved to 7.3% from 6.6% in May. That’s the highest level since the index was overhauled in 2010, and likely one of the highest readings in 40 years.

Despite the added concerns across Wall Street about tapering of the quantitative easing program and a clear building of inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be among the reasons 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 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 Thursday, July 15, 2021.

Acutus Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIB): Canaccord Genuity upgraded it to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $18 from $11. The consensus target is $20, and Wednesday’s last trade came in at $15.05.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Citigroup raised its rating on the chip leader to Neutral from Sell and amazingly hiked the price target all the way to $95 from $17. The posted consensus target is $104.79. The stock closed trading on Wednesday at $89.05.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT): Barclays started coverage of the European steel giant with an Overweight rating. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $10.71 to $33.96 but have a $41.78 consensus price target. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $30.89.

Athene Holding Ltd. (NYSE: ATH): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight comes with a $74 price target. The consensus target is just $67.31. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $65.56.

Baker Hughes Co. (NYSE: BKR): Seaport Global Securities started coverage on the energy services giant with a Buy rating and a $28 price target. That compares with the in-line $27.90 consensus target and Wednesday’s last print of $21.67.

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Sell rating and a $45 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $69.25. The last trade to hit the tape Wednesday came in at $53.73, which was down almost 5% on the day. Shares were also about 1% lower in the premarket.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock, saying that the party looks to be over for this beer name. Shares last closed at $919.55, and the consensus price target is $1,352.80.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE): Evercore ISI started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $9 price target. The consensus target is up at $17.67. The stock closed Wednesday at $7.87, after retreating almost 8% for the day.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): The MKM Partners upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a price target hike to $46 from $36. The consensus target is $36.26, and the stock pulled back over 6% on Wednesday and closed at $35.89.

Covanta Holding Corp. (NYSE: CVA): Though Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it also raised the price target to $20.25 from $17. That compares with a $17.17 consensus target and Wednesday’s final trade of $19.95, which was up over 7% for the day. The company accepted a takeover agreement with EQT Infrastructure for $20.25 per share earlier in the week.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS): Jefferies started coverage of the Swiss investment giant with a Hold rating. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $9.28 and $14.96, and they have a $9.82 consensus price target.

CryoLife Inc. (NYSE: CRY): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $31 price target. The consensus price objective is $34.58, and the shares ended trading on Wednesday at $26.54 per share.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Raymond James raised the carrier to Strong Buy from Market Perform and has a $58 price target. The consensus price objective is $56.72. The stock closed at $40.68 on Wednesday.
EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Scotiabank has a $95 price target and downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform. The consensus target is $97.53. The stock closed on Wednesday at $79.66.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst said that investors are getting their kicks with this retailer. Shares most recently closed at $60.34 and have a consensus price target of $70.05.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP): Seaport Global Securities started coverage of the drilling giant with a Neutral rating. The stock has traded between $12.87 and $36.26 over the past year, and it has a $30.75 consensus price target. The shares were over 3% lower on Wednesday, closing at $30.16 a share.

NXP Semiconductor N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI): Mizuho downgraded it to Neutral from Buy and lowered the price target to $220 from $225. The consensus target is $225.12, and the stock ended trading on Wednesday at $203.55.

PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR): Wolfe Research raised its Underperform rating to Peer Perform. The stock has traded between $78.03 and $103.19 over the past 52 weeks, and it has a $100.56 consensus price target.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Seaport Global Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is higher at $45.18. The shares closed Wednesday at $25.64, after pulling back almost 5% on the day.

Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS): Oppenheimer started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $54 price target. The consensus target is $57.25, and Wednesday’s closing share price was $45.12.

Four recent IPOs have had some wild price swings in 2021, but the stocks are rated Buy across Wall Street and the companies offer stellar technologies and applications. They make sense for aggressive investors looking for solid ideas.

Find out which stocks Jim Cramer says are benefiting from increased consumer spending.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Carnival, Conagra Brands, Duke Energy, Estee Lauder, Gap, Lululemon Athletica, Nokia and Tesla. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on American Airlines, Apple, First Solar, PepsiCo and more.

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