The futures were up across the board Wednesday, after a strong risk-off Tuesday rally that saw all the major indexes and the battered Russell 2000 trade higher. One of the few casualties on the day was oil, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude closing lower. Treasury yields increased across the board, as sellers weighed reports that Russian President Putin made comments that there could indeed be diplomatic solutions to the situation in Ukraine. That in turn knocked the flight-to-safety bid out from under the Treasury complex, and once again both the five-year and 10-year notes closed with yields hitting highs not seen since 2019.

Wall Street strategists remain focused on the Thursday release of the January consumer price index report, where expectations are focused on an increase of 7.3%, versus the 7.0% rise in December. Some in the major firms feel that inflation could be approaching its peak and could begin to trend lower in the second quarter.

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 Wednesday, February 9, 2022.

ACM Research Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR): The Zacks Bull of the Day is a niche, under-the-radar small-cap semiconductor player with an ideal concentrated exposure to Asia. Shares last closed at $81.72 and have a consensus price target all the way up at $132.07.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Daiwa Securities raised shares of the semiconductor giant to Buy from Outperform and lifted the price target to $150 from $140. The analysts’ consensus price target is $152.81. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $128.23, up close to 4% for the day.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY): JMP Securities cut the stock to Market Perform from Market Outperform. It has traded in a 52-week range of $7.29 to $9.64 and has an $8.66 consensus target. The last trade for Tuesday was posted at $7.58.

AppFolio Inc. (NASDAQ: APPF): Stephens upgraded the stock from Underweight to Equal Weight and changed the $105 price target to $107. The last trade to hit the tape Tuesday came in at $120.78, which was a gain of close to 4% for the day.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): JPMorgan lowered its Neutral rating to Underweight and slashed the target price to $31 from $54. The consensus target is $47, and Tuesday’s final print of $39.45. The shares were down close to 5% in premarket action.

Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a price target cut to $71 from $100. The posted consensus target is $92.50. The last trade on Tuesday at $68.85, down almost 4% on the day.

Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC): Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and slashed the $115 target price to $40. Baird cut its Buy rating to Neutral, and its $110 price target dropped to $50. Wedbush downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform. The consensus target is $114.67 and is sure to be going lower. The stock closed higher at $45.79, up almost 5%, after crashing over 30% Monday, when another top executive joined others that left the firm.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX): This was selected as the Bear of the Day at Zacks, with the analyst recommending that investors stay away until it can generate proven margin-improving results. The stock has traded as high as $196.67 in the past year but closed most recently at $143.22, which is down about 18% year to date.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME): Atlantic Equities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and has a $250 target price. The consensus target is $240.25, but the stock closed Tuesday at $241.41 a share.

Coca-Cola European Partners PLC (NASDAQ: CCEP): ING started coverage with a Buy rating and a $71.05 target price. The consensus target is $70.33. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $57.72.

Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG): Seaport Research Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $50.50 price objective. The consensus target is up at $59.50 which would be a 52-week high. The shares closed on Tuesday at $45.50.

First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a hefty $1,000 price target. The consensus target is even higher at $1,041.67. The stock closed Tuesday at $807.30.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN): The Consumer Edge Research upgrade was to Overweight from Equal Weight. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $34.16 to $48.88 and have a consensus target of $49.64. The stock closed at $37.30 on Tuesday.

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX): Atlantic Equities started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $650 target price. That compares with a higher $690.33 consensus price objective and Tuesday’s closing print of $521.61.

Immunocore Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: IMCR): H.C. Wainwright started coverage with a Buy rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is just $48. The stock closed Tuesday at $23.53, which was down over 6% for the day.

Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $38 price objective. The consensus target is $43.56, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $29.00 per share.

Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE): Evercore ISI resumed coverage of the stock with an Outperform rating and a $45 target price. The much lower consensus target for the energy leader is $36, and Tuesday’s closing print was $25.36.
Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) Susquehanna upgraded the stock to Positive from Neutral and boosted the price target to $65 from $34. The consensus target is $66.69. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $48.11. The shares traded over 3% higher in the premarket.

Simpson Manufacturing Co. Inc. (NYSE: SSD): Sidoti upgraded the shares from Neutral to Buy with a $152 target price. The consensus target is just $135.75. The stock closed Tuesday at $120.84, up over 10% after posting strong earnings results.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC): Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating but trimmed the target price to $108 from $118. The consensus target is $138.38. The shares were last seen well below both levels at $69.95, which was down over 6% on Tuesday.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG): Evercore ISI resumed coverage of the deepwater driller with an Outperform rating and a $6 target price. The stock has traded as high as $5.13 in the past year, but the last trade on Tuesday was reported at $3.46, down close to 7% for the day.

Valaris Ltd. (NYSE: VAL): Evercore ISI resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $72 price target. That compares with a much lower $53.50 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $40.32, which was down 3% on the day.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH): Canaccord Genuity downgraded the medical devices and products giant to Hold from Buy and cut the target price to $125 from $165. Stifel kept a Buy rating but lowered its $178 target price to $130, while Truist reiterated it at Buy but lowered the target price to $128 from $145. The consensus target is $156.32. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $119.88, up over 7% for the day. The company missed fourth-quarter expectations on Monday.

Oil prices are poised to go higher, perhaps much higher. Five top energy infrastructure companies offer reasonably safe and reliable distributions, and their stocks look like solid plays now and are Buy-rated at major Wall Street firms.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Continental Resources, Bilibili, Eaton, Hershey, Meta Platforms, Nio, NOV, PayPal and Southern Company. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, General Motors, Tyson Foods and more.

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