The futures were higher across the board as we get ready to wrap up a wild and crazy trading week that started with a huge Monday sell-off and looks now to finish strong. A number of the Wall Street pundits pointed once again to the “buy the dip” crowd of retail investors that jumped in after Monday’s massive selling. In addition, others cited oversold conditions that carried through from last week, positive earnings surprises, corporate commentary that highlighted what appears to be favorable demand metrics, share buybacks and also worries about the tail risks from Delta variant are very overdone.

Many across Wall Street remain leery of the beginning of the tapering of the quantitative easing program after the clear building of inflationary pressures, despite the fact the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be 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 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 23, 2021.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NYSE: AAL): Seaport Global Securities upgraded the venerable carrier’s stock from Neutral to Buy with a $27 price target. The consensus target price is much lower at $18.85. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $21.16.

Banc of California Inc. (NASDAQ: BANC): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $20 price target. The posted consensus target is $22.04. The stock closed Thursday at $16.94.

BlueLinx Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BXC): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $45 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $80. The shares closed Thursday at $40.76, which was down almost 4% for the day, but they were up almost 10% in Friday’s premarket action.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM): Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of the brewer to Neutral from Buy following a huge second-quarter earnings miss. The analyst also lowered the price target to $875 from $1,550. The consensus target is $1,352.80, but that is sure to drop as the magnitude of the quarter’s miss is examined, as it came in well below Wall Street expectations despite management’s consistently confident tone. The shares closed Thursday at $947.54 but were down a stunning 21% in premarket action.

Cabot Corp. (NYSE: CBT): JPMorgan raised the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $62 price target. The consensus target is higher at $71.83. The shares were last seen on Thursday at $51.79.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): Zacks has picked this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst said that this is a way for investors to capitalize on surging auto values. Shares most recently closed at $134.41 and have a consensus price target of $144.30.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Buy-rated shares to $320 from $280, while the consensus target is $292.32 and Thursday’s closing print was $288.96.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): JPMorgan downgraded the ubiquitous pizza retailer to Neutral from Overweight and has a $530 price target, despite the firm posting outstanding second-quarter earnings. The consensus target is $453.28. The stock closed Thursday at $538.82, which was up almost 15% on the back of the strong results.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): Raymond James raised the homebuilder to Strong Buy from Outperform and has a $110 price target. The consensus price objective is $108.31. The last trade for Thursday came in at $89.64 a share.

IMV Inc. (NYSE: IMV): Wells Fargo resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $14 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares closed Thursday at $1.38 apiece.

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND): Craig Hallum upgraded it to Buy from Hold and has a $17 price target. The consensus price objective is $20.00. The stock closed Thursday at $13.22.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC): BofA Securities raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and has a $150 price target. The consensus target is $140.92. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $145.90.
Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and also raised the price target to $110 from $97. The consensus price objective is $104.78. Thursday’s closing trade was reported at $93.37.

Open Lending Corp. (NASDAQ: LPRO): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral From Buy included a price target cut to $40 from $43. The consensus target is $47.64. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $39.94.

Piedmont Lithium Inc. (NYSE: PLL): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 price target. That compares with the $81.17 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $55.69, which was down almost 4% for the day.

Seres Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MCRB): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell and slashed the price target to $7. The consensus target is much higher at $36.57. The shares closed Thursday at $7.95k down a stunning 61% after disappointing top-line results for its SER-287 Phase 2b ECO-RESET study. The shares were down another 5% in premarket trading.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird raised the retail coffee giant to Outperform from Neutral and also lifted the firm’s price target to $142 from $117. The posted consensus target is $124.99. The final trade for Thursday hit the tape at $122.63.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): The Stephens upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight comes with an $85 price target. The consensus price objective is just $69.71. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $74.11.

Watsco Inc. (NYSE: WSO): Stephens upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the firm’s price target to $350 from $300. The consensus target is a much lower $290. The shares closed at $287.93 on Thursday.

The analysts at Baird remain very positive on top restaurant stocks. Six of them are defensive in nature and may make sense for growth investors worried about the potential for a steep market sell-off in the late summer or early fall.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, AT&T, Chevron, Foot Locker, Royal Dutch Shell, T-Mobile and Williams-Sonoma. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Apple, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Verizon and more.

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