The futures were higher Wednesday, after a strong rally to start Tuesday cascaded into the red late in the session. All the major indexes ended lower, except for the Russell 2000. The initial strength was propelled by the hope that the March consumer price index numbers, which came in at 8.5%, the highest since 1981, will mark the peak of the spiraling inflation. After the volatile food and energy component was removed, the overall inflation number was a very tolerable 0.3%. While a pleasant print at the margin with that component out of the equation, that is a very difficult pill to swallow for families struggling to buy gas and groceries.

Treasury yields finally backed up some, as the five-year and 10-year Treasury notes found some buyers, while the 30-year bond was flat on the day. Oil stormed higher as Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed up well over 6%, and both are over the $100 a barrel mark again. Energy traders cited a demand increase from China as the reason for the big move Tuesday. Gold also closed higher on the day.

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, April 7, 2022.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Neutral-rated pharmaceutical giant to $140 from $122. The consensus target is $157.62, but the last trade Tuesday came in at $167.31.

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN): Rosenblatt began coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $27.25. The shares were last seen Tuesday trading at $17.70.

A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE: AOS): Baird maintained an Outperform rating and has a $79 target price. The consensus target is $79.44. Tuesday’s closing share price was $64.49.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX): Jefferies has the stock rated Buy with a $155 target price, and it is one of the firm’s top picks. The consensus target is $150.71, and the close on Tuesday was at $113.43.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $36 target price. The consensus target is just $30.18. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $20.77.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX): Truist Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $52 price objective. The consensus target is $50.19. The shares closed at $43.76 on Tuesday.

Buckle Inc. (NYSE: BKE): A financially sound operation and a high dividend yield make this a solid candidate amid rising interest rates and economic uncertainty. So says Zacks, which selected the fashion retailer as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $32.03 but have a consensus price target of $60.00, which would be a 52-week high.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX): Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 price objective. That compares with a $62.57 consensus target and Tuesday’s final print of $39.02, which was up close to 4% for the day.

Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL): Baird analysts have an Outperform rating and kept the stock listed as one of their best ideas. The firm’s $300 target price compares with the consensus target of $291.57. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $244.31.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut to $110 from $130. The stock closed Tuesday at $93.33, down almost 10% after missing fourth-quarter earnings expectations.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Citing the impact of rising costs and supply chain setbacks, Zacks named this e-commerce stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $97.74 in the past year but closed most recently at $43.30, which is down more than 26% year to date.

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY): Goldman Sachs kept a Neutral rating on the stock but boosted the $234 target price to $264. The consensus target is up at $304.28. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $308.08.

Envestnet Inc. (NYSE: ENV): Jefferies maintained an Underperform rating with a $71 price objective. The consensus target is $89.78. Shares closed most recently at $80.64.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP): Benchmark started coverage on the oil well drilling giant with a Buy rating and a $53 target price. The consensus price objective is $41.32. The stock closed Tuesday at $46.30, up almost 4% for the day.

Houlihan Lokey Inc. (NYSE: HLI): Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating but cut the price target to $111 from $127. The consensus target is $99.17. The last trade on Tuesday was posted at $81.68.

InMode Ltd. (NASDAQ: INMD): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and has an $82 target price. The consensus target is $81.50. Both are a long way from the $31.79 closing print on Tuesday.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Truist Securities downgraded shares of the medical devices giant to Hold from Buy and dropped the $124 target price to $121. The consensus target is $124.61. The stock closed on Tuesday at $110.58.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): Morgan Stanley cut its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and lowered the $102 target price to $91. The consensus target is $98.53. Tuesday’s closing share price was $76.39.
Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and boosted the target price to $31 from $28. D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Buy rating. The $30.60 consensus price objective compares with Tuesday’s closing print of $28.89, which was up close to 3% on the day.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $1,000 price target. The consensus target is higher at $1,530.68. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $591.06.

Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $105 price objective. The consensus target is $105.67. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $80.84, up over 2% for the day.

Veru Inc. (NASDAQ: VERU): Oppenheimer raised its price target on the Outperform-rated shares to $36 from $25. The consensus target is $24.20. The shares were blasted Tuesday, closing down almost 19% at $10.01, even though the company’s sabizabulin, which is being tested in Phase 3 trials as a COVID-19 therapy, produced a stunning 55% reduction in deaths from COVID-19, compared to a placebo, in patients who had moderate to severe risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome, regardless of the variant. The stock rallied over 5% in the aftermarket.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): Citigroup started coverage on the popular restaurant chain with a Buy rating and a $160 target. The consensus target is $163.58. The last trade on Tuesday was at $107.37.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Goldman Sachs slashed its $326 target price on the Neutral-rated shares to $281. The consensus target is $329.43, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $223.

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With even moderate appreciation in five safe Dividend King stocks, growth and income investors should be looking at double-digit total return potential. Given the current turmoil in the markets, that makes a ton of sense now.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Aptiv, Cardinal Health, Charles Schwab, Chegg, Cisco Systems, CrowdStrike, Franklin Resources, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Juniper Networks, NetApp, Starbucks and Waste Management. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Bloomin’ Brands, Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonald’s, Mondelez, Skyworks Solutions, Yum! Brands and more.

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