The futures were lower Tuesday after another volatile day of trading to open up the week. The Russian invasion of Ukraine remains the top story across Wall Street, with the fighting remaining fierce in many areas of the country. Over the weekend, the United States and the European Union added sanctions on Russia, including removing several Russian banks from SWIFT in an effort to undermine the Russian defense of the ruble. The Russians in turn moved rates to 20% from 9.5% while imposing capital controls.
Volatility remains elevated, especially after President Putin put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert over the weekend. However, peace talks were underway Monday in Belarus between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats. The Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 closed lower, while the Nasdaq fought back late in the day to post a gain. The safe-haven bid returned to the Treasury markets, with yields down big on Monday, while oil exploded higher, with West Texas Intermediate up over 4%, and Brent back above the $100 a barrel level.
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 Fat Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
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Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares while cutting its target price to $180 from $235. The consensus target is $219.65. The stock was last seen on Monday trading at $139.71.
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AXL): Morgan Stanley raised its Underweight rating to Overweight and doubled the target price to $16. The consensus target is $9.71. The last trade on Monday for $9.26 a share, which was up over 7% for the day.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET | ANET Price Prediction): Goldman Sachs lifted the $135.50 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $150, in line with the $150.12 consensus target. Monday’s closing share price was $122.71.
Bally’s Corp. (NASDAQ: BALY): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and slashed the $54 price target to $38. The consensus target is $56.38. The closing share price on Monday was $36.02.
Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $159 target price. The consensus target is higher at $225.81. The last trade on Monday was reported at $127.42, up over 6% on the day.
Cable One Inc. (NASDAQ: CABO): The Wells Fargo upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $2,100 price objective. The consensus target is $2,094.29. The share price on Monday’s close was $1,437.44.
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Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Neutral-rated popular golf club and accessories stock to $31 from $27. The consensus target is up at $40.17. Monday’s last trade was reported at $24.74, which was up over 3% on the day.
Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG): Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the Conviction List member and kept a $155 price target. The consensus target for shares of the liquid natural gas giant is $127.24. The stock closed above that level Monday, up 3% to $133.12.
Columbia Sportswear Inc. (NASDAQ: COLM): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day stock, pointing out that this outdoor and active lifestyle retailer just reported record earnings and revenue in its latest quarter. Shares last closed at $92.72 and have a consensus price target of $114.00.
Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Goldman Sachs added the stock to its prestigious Conviction List of top stock picks, and the firm has a huge $250 target price. The consensus target is $213.15. Monday’s close was at $161.11 a share.
EPAM Systems Inc. (NYSE: EPAM): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral and guillotined the $776 price objective to $410. The $685.79 consensus target soon will be lower. The share ended Monday at $207.75, down an incredible 46% after the company withdrew financial forecasts as it makes software in war-torn Ukraine.
Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Morgan Stanley cut its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and slashed the $47 target price to $23. Citigroup downgraded the shares to Sell from Buy, and its price target dropped to $25 from $73. Yet, the last trade on Monday hit the tape at $31.62, up close to 9% for the day.
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Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but lowered the target price to $715 from $840 after the company posted in-line earnings results. The consensus target is $701.16. The shares closed Monday at $466.82, which was down almost 4% for the day.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): Telsey Advisory upgraded the supermarket chain to Outperform from Market Perform and raised the $47 target price to $54. The consensus target is $46. The shares ended trading on Monday at $46.80.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and lowered the price objective to $175 from $200. The consensus target is $188.73. The final trade for Monday was reported at $157.34, down close to 6% for the day.
MacroGenics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX): Though Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, it also trimmed the $23 target price to $21. The consensus target is a stunning $37.30, when compared to the $9.35 per share closing trade for Monday, which was down over 3% for the day.
MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating but dropped the target price to $110 from $125. The consensus target is $124. The last for Monday trade was at $78.76.
Paylocity Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PCTY): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and set a $255 target price. The $255.64 consensus target is in the same ballpark, and Monday’s final trade was at $212.44.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (NYSE: PPC): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $28 target price. The consensus target is $29.90. The last trade for Monday came in at $23.58, down close to 4% on the day.
Prelude Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PRLD): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the $20 price target to $12. The consensus target is up at $38. The share price on Monday’s close was down 15% for the day to $8.83.
TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE: FTI): Kepler raised its Hold rating to Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $5.55 and $10.70, and they have an $8.17 consensus target. The stock closed on Monday at $6.85.
Wix.com Ltd. (NYSE: WIX): Atlantic Equities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and has a $100 target price. The consensus target is higher at $155.88. The shares ended Monday at $91.58, almost 4% higher. The stock gave it back in premarket action, dropping almost 5%.
Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and lowered the target price to $300 from $360. The consensus target is $317.82. The close on Monday was at $229.05 a share.
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Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Alcoa, Alibaba, Best Buy, Beyond Meat, Block, Coinbase Global, Foot Locker, GoPro, Home Depot, Lithium Americas, Nvidia, TotalEnergies, Under Armour, Virgin Galactic, VMware and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on BP, Dollar Tree, Gilead Sciences, Lockheed Martin and more.
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