The futures were lower Monday, as shell-shocked investors return for a full week of trading after the worst week for equities in almost two years. All the major indexes were obliterated on Friday, and the selling also seeped into the Treasury market, as investors looking for a safe haven bought bonds across the curve. Inventors will be watching earnings this week from Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Tesla and other industry giants.
The worrisome item for stock investors is that the S&P 500 blew through and closed well below the 200-day moving average on Friday, a level that had held since May of 2000. This could trigger more selling in the venerable index, where the next major support could rest as low as 4,300, and then perhaps even on to the next support at 4,200. One thing is for sure. The Federal Reserve cannot bail out equity investors this time, so the die may be cast.
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 24, 2022.
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Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL | AFL Price Prediction): Wolfe Research started coverage on the insurance company’s stock with a Peer Perform rating and a $63 price target, The consensus target is $60.55. The final trade on Friday came in at $60.86.
Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and pushed the $21 price objective to $24. The consensus target is $27.38. The stock closed trading on Friday at $16.97.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): Citigroup upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $150 price target. The consensus target is $139.91. The final trade on Friday was reported at $118.63.
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell and lifted $55 the target price to $77. The consensus target is $69. The shares were last seen on Friday at $68.76.
Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET): Credit Suisse raised its Neutral rating to Outperform but slashed the target price to $140 from $205. The consensus target is $180.89. Friday’s closing share price of $88.55 was down over 5% on the day.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH): UBS upgraded the shares to Neutral from Sell and boosted the target price to $80 from $58.50. The consensus target is $89.75, and the shares ended trading on Friday at $84.26.
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Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA): RBC Capital Markets raised the stock from Sector Perform to Outperform with a $60 target price. The consensus target for the programming and cable heavyweight is $63.01. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $49.73.
Corsair Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: CRSR): D.A. Davidson resumed coverage of the video gaming products giant with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is $30.56. The final Friday trade was reported at $20.58.
Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): Though Goldman Sachs cut its Buy rating to Neutral, it also boosted the $46 target price to $52. The consensus price objective is $53.45, and the stock ended trading on Friday at $46.12. That was down over 5% for the day.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform and trimmed the price target to $225 from $245. The consensus target is $236.94. The last trade on Friday hit the tape at $195.09, down close to 9% for the day.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): Citigroup upgraded the robotic surgery leader to Buy from Neutral but trimmed the price target to $360 from $370. The consensus price objective is $358.80. Friday’s closing share price of $269.53 was down almost 7% on the day.
Life Storage Inc. (NYSE: LSI): Zacks named this as the Bull of the Day stock, citing an expanding dividend and stable business model that make it an even more attractive target in the current market downturn, with rising interest rates and as investors clamor for safety. The stock most recently closed at $134.16 and has a consensus price target of $159.00, which would be an all-time high.
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Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX): Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of the railroad to Neutral from Sell and lifted the target price to $84 from $59. The consensus target is $81.25. The last trade on Friday came in at $64.18 per share.
Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $76 target price. The consensus target is much lower at $59.40. The close on Friday was at $57.93 a share.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Benchmark actually raised the stock to Hold from Sell after seemingly all of Wall Street cut ratings or price targets or both, after a very disappointing earnings report last week. Jefferies joined the downgrade squad, lowering its rating from Buy to Hold with a $415 price target. The stock has traded in a wide 52-week range of $478.54 to $700.98 and has a $663.12 consensus target. However, the shares closed Friday at $397.50, down a stunning 22% on the day.
Oatly Group AB (NASDAQ: OTLY): HSBC Securities upgraded the stock from Reduce to Hold with a $7.40 target price. The consensus target is $14.95. The shares were last seen Friday at $6.53.
Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $5.25 target. The consensus target is $7.18. The last trade on Friday was reported at $4.03, which was down close to 5% for the day.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): Wedbush downgraded shares to Neutral from Outperform and has a $36 pierce target. The consensus target is up at $70.39. The last trade Friday was at $32.12, or down over 8% on the day.
SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB): Janney downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and has a $700 price objective. The consensus target is up at $843. The last trade on Friday was reported at $581.76, down over 10% for the day.
Twilio Inc. (NASDAQ: TWLO): BTIG Research began coverage with a Buy rating and a $260 price target. That compares with a consensus price objective of $400.84 and Friday’s closing trade of $192.06, which was down close to 5% for the day.
Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA): Sales have been up and down over the years, and shares have yet to find their footing on Wall Street, says Zacks, which selected this maker of handbags and other accessories as its Bear of the Day. The stock has traded as high as $13.62 a share in the past year but last closed at $7.76.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW): Macquarie started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $157 target price. The $150.56 consensus target is somewhat closer to Friday’s closing print of $123.74.
Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS): Raymond James raised its Outperform rating to Strong Buy and boosted the $65 price target to $73. The consensus target is $68.15. The final trade on Friday was reported at $60.52.
Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating and a $335 target price. The consensus target is higher at $386.06. The last trade on Friday was posted at $241.94 per share.
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Three consumer staples leaders, an outstanding utility and a telecommunications giant with the highest and safest BofA Securities volatility ratings all pay dependable dividends and can soften the blow if we see a big sell-off over the coming weeks.
See why Facebook, Netflix and Peloton may never return to all-time highs.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Beyond Meat, Carvana, Embraer, Lennar, Moderna, Paysafe, Peloton Interactive, PulteGroup, Ventas, VICI Properties and Vroom.
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