The futures were lower on Monday after a rough risk-off week for investors. While the Dow Jones industrials were able to eke out a small gain Friday, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower. In addition, both the five-year and 10-year Treasury notes hit 52-week highs for yields, as there were sellers on every maturity across the curve. The spike in rates, combined with the spike in Omicron cases, is being blamed for last week’s damage. With fourth-quarter earnings on deck, investors will start getting a slew of data this week, and many on Wall Street feel the results will be very solid.

Top strategists and financial media pundits have cited the very hawkish tone from the December FOMC minutes as the driving force behind the big risk-off moves last week. Toss in the fact that the market was very overbought and valuations are very stretched, so the buy-the-dip crowd has remained largely on the sidelines.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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 Monday, January 10, 2022.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Jefferies resumed coverage of the popular vacation rental site with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and has a $169 target price. The consensus target is $196.29. The last trade on Friday was recorded at $166.05, which was up almost 4% for the day.

Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI): Telsey Advisory reiterated its Outperform rating on the supermarket giant and bumped the $35 target price to $37. That compares with the $32.89 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $31.21.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Wells Fargo upgraded the legacy telecommunications giant to Equal Weight from Underweight and raised the target price to $27 from $26. The consensus target is $30.26, and shares closed most recently at $26.29.

Allegheny Technology Inc. (NYSE: ATI): Berenberg raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $25 price target. The consensus price target is $23.78. The shares closed on Friday at $18.26.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the utility to Market Perform from Outperform and has a very low $68 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $106.98. The last trade for Friday came in at $104.50.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Guggenheim reiterated a Buy rating on the stock but cut the target price to $285 from $330. The consensus target is $262.77. The final trade on Friday was reported at $185.15, after retreating almost 6% on the day.

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE): Evercore ISI raised its In Line rating to Outperform and lifted the $40 target price to $46. The consensus target is $43.07. The shares were last seen on Friday at $41.41.

Frontier Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ULCC): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, but the firm trimmed the target price to $18 from $19. The consensus target is up at $21.80. The stock closed Friday at $14.18, which was up over 4% for the day.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS): This retailer was selected as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The analyst said that the sudden deceleration of Athleta & Old Navy in the most recent earnings is cause for significant concern. Shares have traded as high as $37.63 in the past 52-weeks but closed most recently at $18.12.

Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL): Truist Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and boosted the $54 target price to $68. The consensus target is $57.86. The shares closed trading at $54.70 on Friday.

International Business Machines Inc. (NYSE: IBM): Goldman Sachs started coverage on the legacy technology giant with a Neutral rating and a $140 price target. The consensus target is $145.76, and the stock was last seen on Friday trading at $134.83.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): The BofA Securities upgrade was to Neutral from Underperform. The shares have traded in a wide 52-week range of $341.03 to $555.77 and have a $436.19 consensus target. The stock ended last week trading at $370.36.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): BTIG upgraded shares of the robotic surgery leader to Buy from Neutral and has a $372 price target. That compares with the consensus target of $358.86 and Friday’s closing print of $324.29.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY): Odeon upgraded the bank stock to Buy from Hold. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded in a range of $16.69 to $26.45, and they have a $25.57 consensus target. The last trade on Friday was reported at $26.35 a share.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS): UBS downgraded the popular retailer to Sell from Hold and slashed the target price from $66 to $38. The consensus target is $67.36, and Friday’s closing share price was $48.20.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Underperform from Neutral and cut the price target to $40. The consensus target is $49.13. The stock was last seen on Friday at $37.90.

McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK): Credit Suisse raised the health care giant’s stock to Outperform from Neutral. Over the past year, the shares have traded between $169.34 and $251.36 apiece, and they now have a $268.08 consensus target price. The stock ended Friday’s session at $249.76.
Nvidia Inc. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Zacks has named this red-hot tech giant as its Bull of the Day. The analyst suggests that investors cannot afford to leave this stock out of their portfolios, and its recent pullback has provided an excellent entry price. Shares last closed at $272.47, and the consensus price target is $342.16.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR): Truist Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, and the target price went all the way up to $76 from $39. The consensus target is $56.14 and Friday’s closing print of $47.45 was almost 4% higher for the day.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the ubiquitous coffee retailer to Sector Perform from Outperform, and the target price edged down to $122 from $124. The consensus target is $122.72. The final trade on Friday was reported at $107.57, which was over 3% lower on the day.

Stryker Inc. (NYSE: SYK): Morgan Stanley downgraded the medical devices giant to Equal Weight from Outperform and has a $305 target price. That compares with a $288.75 consensus target and Friday’s closing trade at $263.57 a share.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): Jefferies upgraded the digital advertising powerhouse to Buy from Hold and hiked the target price to $105 from $100. The consensus target is just $95.22. The last trade on Friday was reported at $78.94.

TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG): Truist Securities raised its Hold rating to Buy from and moved the target price way up to $786 from $600. The consensus target is $725.25. The final trade for Friday was reported at $654.21.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V): Mizuho downgraded the credit card and payments giant to Neutral from Buy and lowered the target price to $220 from $250. The consensus target is $273.07. The last trade on Friday was reported at $216.96 a share.

It makes sense for investors now to rotate to value, especially mid-cap and large-cap plays that pay dependable dividends. Five top stocks are trading at very reasonable levels and are solid value plays in a market that looks poised to take a big hit.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included CrowdStrike, Exxon Mobil, Ford, Gilead Sciences, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell International, Lowe’s, Lyft, Progressive and Zscaler.

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