Thursday morning futures were edging higher as weekly jobless claims reached a pandemic-era low. Markets had a strong start to Wednesday but slumped lower as the day went on. Part of this was due to ADP’s monthly payroll report, which showed only 374,000 private payrolls returned for the month of August, which was a big miss from the 625,000 that analysts expected. It all comes down to the jobs. Again, investors are looking forward to Friday to see what the August employment report holds, and after the ADP report, they’re expecting some deceleration.

For the employment report, analysts are targeting a “robust” 750,000 jobs coming back in August, according to Bloomberg. Note that this is still an impressive number by prepandemic standards, but it does demonstrate a deceleration from July’s report, which saw 943,000 jobs added. Also, analysts are expecting the unemployment rate to narrow to 5.2% in August from July’s reported 5.4%.

While many expect the report to be a fairly positive one, it will still reflect the surge in coronavirus cases that we saw across the United States over the past month. It goes without saying that the Federal Reserve also will be monitoring these numbers, per its dual mandate, and the report could influence the Fed’s monetary policy to come later this year. For now, the labor market appears to be improving and the Fed policy is favorable.

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 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 Thursday, September 2, 2021.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst says that AMD has taken the world of advanced chip technology by storm, with revolutionary CEO Lisa Su transforming this discount semiconductor enterprise into a leading-edge innovator. Shares last closed at $109.99, and the consensus price target is $114.37.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and has a $27 price target. The shares have a $25.00 consensus target, and Wednesday’s close was at $31.25.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD): JPMorgan lowered its Neutral rating to an Underweight with a $57 price target. That compares with a $78.22 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $62.29.

Assembly Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ASMB): William Blair downgraded it to a Market Perform from Outperform. Shares last closed at $3.90, and the consensus price target is $10.95.

Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CATB): Wedbush started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $16 price target. The $5.50 consensus target is way below Wednesday’s close at $9.41.

Clover Health Investments Corp. (NASDAQ: CLOV): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $10 price target. Shares most recently closed at $8.47 and have a consensus price target of $9.33.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: GLPI): CapitalOne initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $54 price target. The shares last closed at $50.04, and the consensus price target is $53.11.

Materialise N.V. (NASDAQ: MTLS): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price target. Shares last closed at $22.91, and the consensus target price is $26.55.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Needham upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $320 price target. Shares last closed at $264.76, but they have traded as high as $294.00 in the past year.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): This is the Zacks Bear of the Day. The analyst points out that it is nothing more than an exercise equipment company, operating in a highly saturated space with low barriers to entry. Shares closed most recently at $100.04 apiece and have a consensus price target of $134.60.
RumbleON Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBL): B. Riley Securities started it with a Buy rating and a $70 price target. Robert Baird also initiated coverage, with an Outperform rating and a $42 price target. The shares most recently closed at $36.44 and have a consensus price target of $75.00.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Hold rating and a $127 price target. Shares last closed at $117.45 and have a consensus price target of $131.40.

Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI): Wedbush downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform. Janney downgraded from Buy to Neutral as well. The shares most recently closed at $67.10 and have a consensus price target of $73.27.

Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL): JPMorgan lowered its Neutral rating to Underweight. The stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $56.02, in a 52-week range of $51.98 to $63.89.

Volta Inc. (NYSE: VLTA): Raymond James initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $12.50 price target. Shares most recently closed at $9.00, and the 52-week trading range is $8.42 to $18.33.

WM Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPS): Truist started coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 price target. The shares most recently closed at $14.14 and have a 52-week range of $10.01 to $29.50.

The stars are aligned for football-starved fans across the country, and five top stocks will benefit from the new NFL and college seasons. They look like ideal picks for investors looking to add growth stocks with a solid tailwind.

Support.com and Vinco Ventures were among the meme stocks on the move early Thursday. Also, has Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest completely dumped Alibaba? And what is a transparency ETF?

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, AMC Entertainment, Facebook, First Solar, Kansas City Southern, Roku and SolarEdge. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on CrowdStrike and DTE Energy.

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