The futures were mixed on Wednesday, after the risk-off sellers were out in full force Tuesday. All the major indexes closed in the red, while many of the meme stocks were hit extremely hard. Some chalked the selling up to concerns over the COVID-19 Delta variant and fears over new mask mandates and shutdowns. Others continued to point to the inflationary signs that are showing up almost daily across the economy. The selling Tuesday did bring back the Treasury bond buyers, as yields were down across the curve.

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 Wednesday, July 28, 2021.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the chip giant, which also resides on the Conviction List of top stocks, after the company beat second-quarter expectations, guided third quarter above street consensus and positively revised its full-year outlook. The firm has a $115 price target, while the consensus target is $104.79. The shares closed Tuesday at $91.03. The stock was up almost 3% in Wednesday’s premarket.

AON PLC (NYSE: AON): Raymond James raised the shares to Market Perform from Underperform. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $179.52 to $260.97 and has a $265.75 consensus target price. The stock was last seen up almost 4% on Tuesday to $259.58.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Baird initiated coverage on the stock with an Outperform rating and a $105 price target. The consensus target is $97.32. Tuesday’s closing trade came in at $85.35.

DT Midstream Inc. (NYSE: DTM): Wolfe Research upgraded the shares to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $46 price target. The consensus price objective is $37.00, and Tuesday’s last trade came in at $41.95.

Globant S.A. (NYSE: GLOB): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price target to $280 from $221. That compares with the $237.11 consensus target and Tuesday’s final print of $233.39.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE: HLX): The Piper Sandler downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $4.50 from $5.30. The consensus price objective is $6.11. The shares closed Tuesday at $4.15.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INFI): When Wells Fargo upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight, the analyst also boosted the price target from $4 all the way to $14. That compares with the much lower $8.50 consensus and Tuesday’s final trade of $1.52. The shares were up over 50% in premarket action.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR): MKM Partners raised its Neutral rating to Buy and also lifted the price target to $33 from $26. The posted consensus target is $26.06. The shares closed at $27.64 on Tuesday.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC): Raymond James downgraded it to Underperform from Market Perform. The 52-week trading range is $102.11 to $149.30, and the consensus price target is $140.92. The stock closed Tuesday at $146.71, just shy of the 52-week high, so this looks like a valuation call.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM): Goldman Sachs raised the shares to Neutral from Sell and lifted the price target to $43 from $38. The consensus target is $44.78, and the stock ended trading Tuesday at $38.04, which was down almost 3% on the day.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage of the bellwether technology giant with an Outperform rating. It also raised the price target to $360 from $290. The $298.92 consensus target is closer to Tuesday’s closing print of $286.54. The shares were up modestly in the premarket, after the company posted stellar second-quarter results.

Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $13 price target. The consensus target is just higher at $14, and Tuesday’s closing share price was $9.58.

ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD): Jefferies upgraded it to Hold from Underperform and also raised the price target to $240 from $170. The consensus target is $228.33, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $264.24.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NASDAQ: CRM): This software giant was named as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks. The analyst said that this innovation-fueled business continues to grow its total addressable market through a combination of synergy driving acquisitions and organic developments that power its unprecedented profitable growth. Shares most recently closed at $243.51 and have a consensus price target of $278.66.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (NYSE: SMG): Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. The consensus target is up at $257. The shares closed on Tuesday at $180.41.

Sharecare Inc. (NASDAQ: SHCR): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $15 price target. No consensus target was available. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $6.56. The shares were almost 6% higher in the premarket

Skillz Inc. (NASDAQ: SKLZ): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $17 target price. The consensus price objective is up at $24.25. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $14.26.

Sony Group Corp. (NYSE: SONY): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight. The 52-week trading range is $72.45 to $118.50, and the consensus price target is $152.20. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $99.63.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NASDAQ: TDOC): Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and lowered the price target to $153 from $225. The consensus target is $227.14. The stock ended Tuesday’s trading at $151.01, but the shares were down almost 10% in premarket trading after the company reported disappointing earnings.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE): Zacks selected this meme stock as its Bear of the Day. The analyst pointed out that analysts are dropping their long-term earnings estimates as the timeline to profitability gets pushed back. Shares last closed at $30.25, and the consensus price target is just $39.20.

The electric vehicle revolution is still in its infancy, but by playing the power-generation angle, conservative investors can have a piece of the action and receive solid and dependable dividends while they wait for the growth in demand and use.

See how analysts responded to Tuesday’s big tech quarterly results.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Alibaba, American Airlines, AT&T, Chipotle Mexican Grill, JD.com, Kimberly-Clark, Pfizer, Starbucks and Weyerhaeuser. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Domino’s, Eli Lilly, McDonald’s, Merck and more.

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