The futures were flat on Tuesday, after an attempted follow-through Monday when all the major indexes reversed once again, turning a rally into a late-day sell-off. Only the Dow Jones industrials eked out a tiny gain, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower.

The main talking points across Wall Street once again are the concerns about interest rate hikes, which are slated to start in March, and the possibility that Russia may invade Ukraine as early as this week. A big deal was announced in the transports sector, with Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines agreeing to a $6.6 billion cash and stock merger. Reports indicate this will create the sixth-largest U.S. airline.

Yields were mostly flat after last week’s big move higher, with many of the Treasury dealers waiting for Thursday’s producer price index report. The PPI is slated to come in at 7.3%, versus the 7.0% print in December. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude both saw some selling to open the week, but both remained near $90 a barrel.

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 Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): The iPhone maker has once again flexed its financial firepower, resilient supply chain, expanding services segment and more, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day stock. The shares most recently closed at $171.66 and have a consensus price target of $190.29, which would be a 52-week high.

Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI): Barclays started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $32 price objective. The consensus target is a staggering $96.21. The shares were last seen on Monday at $32.31, which was down close to 4% for the day.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): RBC Capital Markets changed its Sector Perform rating on the energy leader to Outperform with a $70 target price. The consensus target is lower at $56.06. Monday’s closing trade was at $57.11 a share.

Diversey Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: DSEY): Goldman Sachs cut its Buy rating to Neutral and slashed the $20 price target to $12. The posted consensus target is $17.70. The final trade on Monday was reported at $10.49.

Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN): Credit Suisse reiterated an Outperform rating and bumped the target price to $186 from $184. Barclays kept it at Equal Weight but dropped the $170 target price to $162, while Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating and trimmed its target to $189 from $191. The consensus price target is $185.85, and the stock finished trading on Monday at $150.13.

Enova International. Inc. (NYSE: ENVA): Maxim Group raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $55 target price. The consensus target is just $46.50. Monday’s final trade was reported at $45 a share, which was up over 9% for the day, after posting stellar earnings late last week.

Esports Technologies. Inc. (NASDAQ: EBET): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 target price. Shares have traded as high as $55 apiece since last year’s initial public offering. Monday’s closing share price was at $11.87, up over 7% for the day on basically no news.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY): Argus upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $224 price target. The consensus target for the chocolatier is $201.30. The shares ended trading on Monday at $204.71.

Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: NTLA): Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to Outperform from Perform and raised the target price to $150 from $145. The consensus target is up at $173.32. The shares were last seen on Monday trading at $97.43.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): KGI Securities downgraded the social media heavyweight to Neutral from Outperform and has a $270 target price. The consensus target is $353.91. The shares closed Monday at $224.91, down over 5% on the day.

Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ): Argus raised shares of the venerable index from Hold to Buy with a $200 price target, which is lower than the $214.07 consensus. Monday’s closing trade was at $178.59 a share.

Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO): Barclays initiated coverage of the electric vehicle company with an Overweight rating and a $34 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $56.74. The stock closed trading at $23.99 on Monday.

NOV Inc. (NYSE: NOV): JPMorgan cut its rating to Neutral from Overweight and has a $17 price target. The consensus target is $18.14, and the last trade on Monday was reported at $15.91.

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $17 price target. The consensus target is $18.75. The stock closed on Monday at $17.00 a share.

Ozon Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: OZON): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $23 target price. The consensus target is up at $46.18. The shares closed trading on Monday at $19.81.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): The share price tumbled roughly 25% on the back of slowing user expansion and other setbacks, points out Zacks, which selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $310.16 in the past year but closed on Monday at $121.41, which is down more than 35% year to date.

Power Integrations Inc. (NASDAQ: POWI): Susquehanna upgraded the stock from Neutral to Positive with a $100 price objective. The consensus target is up at $115.83, and the stock closed on Monday at $83.81.

Southern Co. (NYSE: SO): BofA Securities downgraded the giant utility stock to Neutral from Buy and trimmed the $74 target price to $71. Wells Fargo also cut the shares, to Equal Weight from Overweight, and dropped that price target to $72 from $73. For now, the consensus target is $69.66. The shares were last seen on Monday trading at $67.65.

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP): Evercore ISI changed its rating to Outperform from In Line and has a $62 price target. The posted consensus target is higher at $67.95. The closing share price on Monday was $61.51.

USA Truck Inc. (NASDAQ: USAK): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock and lifted the target price to $39 from $30. The consensus target is $27.50. The stock closed on Monday at $22.30, up a stunning 13% after posting stellar fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results.

Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ZETA): Craig Hallum started coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a $14 price target. The consensus target is $12.14. The last trade on Monday came in at $10.39, which was a gain of over 5% after positive coverage on the firm’s customer data platform.

Eight Warren Buffett stock picks look ideal for growth and income investors worried about the potential for a steep market decline. The companies should not be damaged by rising interest rates, and some actually may benefit.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bill.com, Cigna, ConocoPhillips, Estee Lauder, Fortinet, Microchip Technology, Pfizer, Skyworks Solutions, Snap, Snowflake, VICI Properties and Wipro. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Ballard Power Systems, Exelon, Taiwan Semiconductor and more.

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