The futures were down across the board Friday, as we get set to finish another strong week that was punctuated by outstanding earnings by some of the big technology companies and some additional blue chip giants, like Ford and Caterpillar. Thursday’s strong risk off rally carried all the indexes higher, with the Nasdaq posting yet another all-time high.

The “buy the dip” crowd was back in full effect, as investors used the late Wednesday weakness to power stocks higher. After a big rally, the Treasury market caught sellers across the curve on Thursday, though yields are still substantially lower than last summer.

Despite the continued market strength, top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on continued rising interest rates, the quantitative easing tapering due to begin next month, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries. Toss in the debt ceiling issue (which is on hold for now but will return in December) and the ongoing 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 Friday, October 29, 2021.

Accel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: ACEL): This company is expected to show 125% topline growth this year and reports earnings early next week, says Zacks, which selected it as the Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $11.98 and have a consensus price target of $15.63, which would be a 52-week high.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Goldman Sachs remains positive on the stock despite the company posting some very disappointing results on Thursday. The analyst kept a Buy rating and have a $4,250 price objective. The consensus target price is $4,145.46. The stock closed Thursday at $3,446.57 but was down close to 5% in Friday’s premarket.

Avient Corp. (NASDAQ: AVNT): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the shares and has a $68 price target. That is higher than the $61.18 consensus target and the final Thursday trade of $55.00 a share.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BOOT): Craig Hallum raised the stock to Buy from Hold and boosted its target price to $135 from $91. The consensus target is $104.80. The final trade for Thursday came in at $102.51 a share.

Decker’s Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK): Baird maintained its Outperform rating on the share and named it a “fresh pick trading call” with a monster $525 target price target. That towers over the $479.42 consensus and Thursday’s final trade of $380.35.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): Credit Suisse reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares and bumped up the $81 target price to $82. The consensus target is just $74.28. The stock was last seen Thursday at $72.41 after pulling back almost 7% on the day.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and has a $206 price target. The consensus target is $185.74. The last trade for Thursday was posted at $179.40.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT): Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating on the hotel giant and boosted the price target to $160 from $148. The consensus target was last seen at $141.26, but the closing price on Thursday was $146.04.

KLA Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC): Along with a host of Wall Street counterparts, Susquehanna reiterated its Positive rating after the semiconductor capital equipment giant posted strong earnings. The firm also lifted the $475 price target to $490. The consensus target, which no doubt will increase, is $391.75. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $355.74, which was up almost 5% for the day.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Oppenheimer reiterated its Buy rating, along with most of Wall Street, after the fast-food colossus posted very solid third-quarter results. Oppenheimer also lifted the target price from $270 to $280. The consensus target is $270.45, and Thursday’s closing share price was $245.50.

Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR): BWS Financial cut its Buy rating to Neutral with a $30 price target. The consensus target is up at $39.80. The stock fell over 3% on Thursday to close at $30.36 per share.

ServiceNow Inc. (NASDAQ: NOW): Barclays and a host of other Wall Street firms are very bullish on the shares after positive earnings. Barclays reiterated a Buy rating and moved the $784 price target to $791. The consensus target is $687.93. The final trade on Thursday hit the tape at $687.70.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird kept an Outperform rating on the ubiquitous coffee shop retailer but cut the price objective to $128 from $144 following a disappointing update from the company. Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and cut its price objective to $112 from $130. The posted consensus target is $129.25. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $113.20. The shares were down almost 6% in premarket action.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NASDAQ: TDOC): Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on the shares but lowered the price target to $190 from $225, despite a very positive third-quarter earnings report. The consensus target is $191.58. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $149.18, which was up almost 8% on the day.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and has a $415 price target. The consensus target is $374.13. Thursday’s last trade came in at $367.18 a share.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX): Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating on the shares and lifted the $169 price target to $211. The consensus target is $152.57, and Thursday’s last trade was posted at $180.84 per share.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM): MKM Partners raised the popular restaurant chain to Buy from Neutral and bumped up the target price to $145 from $142. The consensus target is $135.23. The stock closed at $125.88 on Thursday.

Zendesk Inc. (NYSE: ZEN): Stifel lowered the price target to $150 from $175 but kept a Buy rating on the shares, citing the firm acquisition of Momentive as a surprise to third-quarter results. The consensus target for the moment is higher at $175.76. The last trade Thursday hit the tape at $119.01, which was down almost 3%. The stock was hammered in the premarket, down over 18%.

One particularly prescient analyst sees storm clouds on the horizon for the markets. See why a lightning-fast 10% correction could occur in the remaining months of the fourth quarter, and what to do about it.

Note that competition between Boeing and Airbus is heating up again. Also, Friday’s early meme stock movers included ESS, IronNet and Lucid.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Avis Budget, Dynatrace, Norfolk Southern, PACCAR, Salesforce.com, Sherwin-Williams, Teradyne and Teva Pharmaceutical. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on eBay, Hilton, McDonald’s and more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.