The futures were slightly higher on Friday as the first week for major corporate second-quarter earnings reporting came to a close. In some cases it was a “Buy the rumor, sell the news” week, as some of the companies that came in with big numbers were met with some stiff selling. With inflation still the elephant in the room, as a recent string of hotter-than-expected inflation readings and headlines about continued supply chain constraints dented some investors’ risk appetite, Chair Jerome Powell maintained the Federal Reserve’s stance that current inflation readings will be transitory and fade as the year progresses.

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 Friday, July 16, 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock due to its geopolitical risk. Shares last closed at $214.76, and the consensus price target is $292.21.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on the shares with an Outperform rating and a $101 price target. The consensus target is posted at $97.32. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $77.49.

Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS): Baird upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and also raised its target price to $425 from $389. The consensus target is posted at $376.63. The stock closed on Thursday at $369.15.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and has a $383 price target. The consensus target is $289.52. The stock closed trading Thursday at $226.09, which was down almost 10% for the day.

Cryoport Inc. (NASDAQ: CYRX): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and an $80 price target. The consensus price objective is $76.13. The stock closed at $53.81 on Thursday.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI): Cowen raised the engine and powertrain giant to Outperform from Neutral with a $284 price target. The consensus target is $292.17. The final trade for Thursday came in at $240.12.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR): Benchmark started coverage with a Buy rating and a $330 price target. That compares with a $292.32 consensus target and Thursday’s closing trade of $280.95.

Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET): Wolfe Research not only upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform but also boosted the price target to $13 from $12. The posted consensus target is $13.06, and the final on Thursday trade hit the tape at $9.79.

FibroGen Inc. (NASDAQ: FGEN): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $24 from $26 after the FDA Advisory Committee voted against approval for the company’s Roxadustat. The consensus target is $36.71. The stock closed Thursday at $24.84 but was being mauled in premarket trading, down a stunning 35%.

Guidewire Software Inc. (NASDAQ: GWRE): Stifel resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $110 price target. The consensus price objective for the stock is $114.25. The shares closed on Thursday at $108.15 apiece.

Honest Co. (NASDAQ: HNST): Loop Capital raised shares of the Jessica Alba-led company to Buy from Hold and has set a $17 price target. The consensus target is higher at $18.75. The shares were last seen Thursday at $14.65, up almost 5% on the day, and were up an additional 2% in the premarket after the company beat earnings expectations.

LiveNation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $110 price target. The consensus target is $91.09. The stock ended trading at $79.93 on Thursday.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB): BofA Securities downgraded the chemical giant to Neutral from Buy and lowered the target price to $114 from $117. The consensus target is $118.14. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $101.
Maxar Technologies Ltd. (NYSE: MAXR): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $50 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $60.52. The stock closed on Thursday at $33.12.

NOW Inc. (NASDAQ: DNOW): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy, and the firm also lifted the price target to $12 from $11. The consensus target is $12.17. The closing share price on Thursday was $8.94.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NASDAQ: CRM): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $295 price target. That compares with the $278.66 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $237.58.

Seagate Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: STX): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the shares to $85 from $74 but kept a Sell rating on the hard disk and solid-state drive leader. The consensus target is much higher at $102.90, and Thursday’s closing print was $86.15.

Spunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the big data leader and has a $215 price target. The consensus target is just $168.31. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $133.58.

Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS): This was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that the company is the backbone of innovation for global electronics. Shares most recently closed at $277.68 and have a consensus price target of $302.00.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT): Goldman Sachs added this stock to its Conviction List of top picks. The firm’s $82 price target is above the $76.18 consensus target. The shares closed on Thursday at $66.90 apiece.

While these five BofA Securities defensive stock picks may be far from the go-go momentum and mega-tech giants, they all pay dependable dividends and can soften the blow if we see a big sell-off over the next six weeks to three months.

Also, check out the meme stocks that were on the move on Thursday.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, ArcelorMittal, Baker Hughes, Delta Air Lines, EOG Resources, Foot Locker, NXP Semiconductor and Plug Power. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Nvidia, SeaWorld, Wells Fargo, Zoom Video and more.

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