The futures were positive on Tuesday, after investors were treated to a strong Monday rally as we saw some follow-through from Friday, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq once again hitting new all-time highs. Across Wall Street, the focus this week will be the commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who will be speaking via videoconference at the Fed’s annual Economic Policy Symposium on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Also, the flash manufacturing data from Japan and Europe revealed continued expansion but came in lower than expected.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. Given the recent FOMC commentary, it is looking like the tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt could indeed be in the works by the end of the year and purchases could be completed by the end of 2022. That could become clearer this week.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, which may have seen beginning last week, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into any market strength while repositioning portfolios for the balance 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, August 24, 2021.

Avalara Inc. (NYSE: AVLR): Berenberg initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $200 price target. The consensus target is $206.36. The shares closed trading on Monday at $171.64.

Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 price target. The consensus price objective is lower at $81.28. The stock closed Monday at $67.59.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): This software company was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that software is the brains of chip design and testing, so investors should learn why Nvidia uses Cadence. Shares most recently closed at $158.32 but have a consensus price target of just $158.51.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $420 price target. Since the IPO, the shares have traded between $208.00 and $429.54. The last trade on Monday was reported at $256.00.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $230 from $270. The consensus target is $289.17. The last trade on Monday was reported at $235.25.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR): Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst pointed out that growth in annual recurring revenue and new customers could not offset profit guidance getting slashed. The stock last closed at $156.67, and the consensus price target is $177.60.

DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC): Susquehanna upgraded the stock to a Positive rating from Neutral and has a $42 price target. That compares with a $44.75 consensus target and Monday’s close at $36.07.

Genmab A.S. (NASDAQ: GMAB): H.C. Wainwright lowered its Buy rating to Neutral with a $47 price target. That compares with the $42.64 consensus target and Monday’s close at $48.58.

Indie Semiconductor Inc. (NASDAQ: INDI): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 price target. The shares have traded between $8.00 and $14.94 since the IPO and closed Monday at $9.07.

Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT): Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $93 price target. Shares last closed at $73.71, but they have traded as high as $90.34 in the past year.

Rani Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RANI): Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $23 price target. Stifel started it with a Buy rating and a $24 price target, and BofA Securities started it at Buy with a $23 price target. It has a 52-week trading range of $9.24 to $29.40. Monday’s closing print was $17.13.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS): Seaport Global Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $165 price target. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $99.98 and $181.21, and it has a $182.40 consensus target. The last trade for Monday was recorded at $151.08.

Shift Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SFT): Oppenheimer started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $12 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $13.63. The last trade for Monday hit the tape at $7.34.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD): Seaport Global Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $75 price target. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $28.31 and $74.37. The consensus target price is $80.33, and Monday’s close was at $68.96 a share.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (NYSE: SHO): Wells Fargo upgraded it to Equal Weight from Underweight but cut the price target to $11.50 from $13. The consensus target is $12.77. The stock was last seen on Monday trading at $10.95.

Theravance Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: TBPH): Cowen’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included the price target slashed to $14 from $42. The shares most recently closed at $14.17 and have a consensus price target of $29.67.

Vertex Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX): Berenberg initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $27 price target. The posted consensus target is $25.83. The shares ended last week at $19.61.

Four top companies are hitting on all cylinders, have earnings out of the way for the quarter and their stocks look poised to head higher the rest of 2021. Best of all, Goldman Sachs just boosted its price targets on all of them.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Continental Resources, Duolingo, EOG Resources, GXO Logistics, JD.com, Robinhood Markets, Sea, Sealed Air and SeaWorld. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on Chesapeake Energy and Traeger.

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