The futures were up across the board Thursday, after the roller-coaster returned on Wednesday, along with the sellers, before the buy-the-dip crowd showed up to lift all the indexes into positive territory by the close. Initially, concerns over inflation appeared to be the major impetus behind the risk-off move, until chatter about signs of progress emerged in Washington on the debt ceiling debate. Surging energy prices across the globe, which include a massive run-up in natural gas, where prices have jumped 46% in Europe this week alone, and are up more than sevenfold this year are helping to drive the inflation debate.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on rising interest rates, Federal Reserve tapering due to begin soon, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries, and analysts are not nearly as positive on the upcoming earnings seasons as they were for the second quarter. Toss in the debt ceiling and China worries, and the cauldron continues to simmer.

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, October 7, 2021.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): Zacks selected the so-called Amazon of the East as its Bear of the Day stock, citing geopolitical risks. Shares last closed at $144.10, and the consensus price target is $247.87.

Alkermes PLC (NASDAQ: ALKS): Jefferies upgraded the stock to a Buy rating from Hold and has a $36 price target. The consensus target is set at $28.13. The shares closed Wednesday at $31.19.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): Stephens downgraded the bank to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $67 price target. The consensus target is $65.60. The stock was last seen on Wednesday at $53.69.

ASE Technology Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: ASX): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $8.10 from $13.30. The consensus price target is $11.43. The stock closed trading on Wednesday at $7.23.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): MoffettNathanson upgraded the legacy telecommunications giant to Neutral from Underperform and lifted the $23 price target to $28. The consensus target is up at $31.45. The stock closed at $27.31 on Wednesday.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $100 price target. The consensus target is higher at $110.17, and Wednesday’s closing trade was $77.87 per share.

Box Inc. (NYSE: BOX): Morgan Stanley lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight with a $29 price target. The consensus target is $28.57. The stock closed on Wednesday at $25.35.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS): Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, and it cut the price target to $115 from $140. The consensus target is $116.43. The last trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $105.96.

CubeSmart (NASDAQ: CUBE): Berenberg started coverage with a Hold rating and a $52 price target. The consensus target is $53.56. The stock closed on Wednesday at $49.06.

DigitalBridge Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DBRG): The Outperform rating at Raymond James was raised to Strong Buy, and the firm lifted the price target to $9.00 from $8.50. The consensus price objective is $9.67. The stock added over 4% on Wednesday and closed at $6.10. the shares tacked on an additional 4% in Thursday’s premarket.

East West Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: EWBC): Wells Fargo upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised the target price to $95 from $80. That compares with a $91.09 consensus target and Wednesday’s final print of $78.33 per share.

Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $28 price target. The consensus target is higher at $31.83. The stock closed at $20.90 on Wednesday.

Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $198 price target. The consensus target is $193.64. The shares closed on Wednesday at $170.53.
Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating on the popular retailer to Overweight with a $230 price target. The consensus target is $231.79. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $175.75.

Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO): JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight and has a $16 price target. The consensus target is $16.42. The stock closed on Wednesday at $14.98, which was down almost 13% for the day. The shares were coming back in the premarket, up over 4%.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR): Jefferies resumed coverage of the financial conglomerate with a Buy rating and a $74 price target. The consensus target is $76.46. Wednesday’s final trade came in at $61.86 a share.

Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO): Goldman Sachs upgraded the electric vehicle company to Buy from Neutral and has a $53 price target. The posted consensus target is up at $60. The shares closed Wednesday at $33.66.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB): JPMorgan upgraded the oilfield services behemoth to Overweight from Neutral and lifted the price target to $37 from $28. The stock ended Wednesday trading at $29.94.

Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER): D.A. Davidson raised its Neutral rating to Buy and boosted the $135 price target to $140. The consensus target is up at $148.32. The closing share price on Wednesday was $109.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX): This retailer was named as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks, which said that a new wave of consumers is being ushered into this flourishing economy with a penchant for value and convenience. Shares most recently closed at $64.33 and have a consensus price target of $84.59, which would be an all-time high.

Stock prices are very overextended, and it is not a question of if a large correction comes but when. So it makes sense for more conservative investors to pivot to a safer stance. See the five steps to take now.

Meme stock movers on Wednesday included Palantir and Workhorse. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought a million shares of a mobile gaming platform provider.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Airlines, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Domino’s Pizza, Freeport-McMoRan, Hyatt Hotels, Square and United States Steel. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Delta Air Lines, Marriot International, McDonald’s, Seagate Technology and more.

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