The futures were up across the board Wednesday, after a massive risk-off rally on Tuesday that was mainly attributed to some positive earnings results despite very oversold market conditions. The rally also came despite Treasury yields rising across the curve, with the 30-year long bond printing a 3.01% yield before falling back to close at 2.99%. The St. Louis Federal Reserve president stunned some across Wall Street by calling for a 3.5% federal funds rate by the end of the year and hinting that a 75-basis-point hike was not out of the question, although he walked back that latter statement.

After posting striking gains on Monday, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude backed up, while natural gas also succumbed to profit-taking, trading down over 10%. While the rhetoric from Washington over lifting leasing restrictions is a positive for the industry, any new production from the change in policy could take months before hitting the market. Spot gold also was a loser Tuesday, closing down almost 2%.

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 20, 2022.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Citigroup upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral but lowered its target price to $200 from $214. The consensus target is $197.85. The shares closed Tuesday at $170.12, which was up close to 3% for the day.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Citigroup resumed coverage on the technology behemoth with a Buy rating, but the firm trimmed its target $4,115 price objective to $4,100. The consensus target is $4,069.61. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $3,162.31.

AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $68 target price. The consensus target is a whopping $94.69. The final trade on Tuesday came in at $49.59, up over 6% for the day.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Baird lowered the $290 price target to $256, but the stock remains Outperform rated. The consensus target is $287.09. Tuesday’s closing share price was $203.80.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the giant money center bank, which is on the firm’s prestigious Conviction List. The analyst did trim the $52 target price to $51. The consensus target is $50.04, and shares closed on Tuesday at $39.57.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the wildly popular restaurant chain and has a large $1,900 price objective. The consensus target is a slightly higher $1,920.96, and Tuesday’s closing print was $1,632.03.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA): Rosenblatt started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $51 target price. The consensus target is up at $60.34. The final Tuesday trade was for $48.11 a share.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY): Zacks has selected this entertainment and dining venue operator as its Bull of the Day. The analyst points out that same-store sales are picking up this year and Wall Street is feeling bullish. Shares last closed at $48.86, and the consensus price target is $56.44, which would be a 52-week high.

Eastman Chemical Inc. (NYSE: EMN): Wolfe Research downgraded the shares from Outperform to Peer Perform with a $114 price target. The consensus target is up at $137.21. The last trade on Tuesday was posted at $109.57.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS): Goldman Sachs lowered the $100 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $85. The consensus target is $112.81. The close on Tuesday was at $68.98.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock, noting that this footwear retailer’s biggest supplier is cutting back on product. Shares have traded as high as $66.71 in the past year but closed most recently at $30.58. That is down about 30% year to date.

JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and a $215 target. The consensus target is $210.67. The stock closed at $173.88 on Tuesday.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on the consumer staples heavyweight in front of first-quarter earnings, and it has a $145 target price. The consensus target is $128.75. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $126.87.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB): Jefferies kept a Buy rating with a $330 price target for the social media colossus. The consensus target is just $322.74. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $217.31, a gain of over 3% for the day.

Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX): The Jefferies analysts remain positive on the Buy-rated shares and have a staggering $190 target price. The consensus target is $179.50. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at just $54.59.

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN): Goldman Sachs cut the $20 price objective on the Neutral-rated stock to $17.50. The consensus target is up at $31.31. The close on Tuesday was close to 5% higher at $14.78.

Shift4 Payments Inc. (NYSE: FOUR): Morgan Stanley cut its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and lowered the $50 target price to $41. The consensus target is higher at $74.86. Shares retreated over 4% on Tuesday to close at $57.73. They were down an additional 4% in the aftermarket action on no news we could find.
Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): Rosenblatt started coverage of the popular social media app provider with a Buy rating and a $49 target price. The consensus target is higher at $55.71. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $33.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF): Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the Buy-rated shares to $45 from $40. The consensus target is set higher at $50.89. The last trade on Tuesday was filled at $40.70.

Synopsis Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $409 price target. The consensus target is $394.80. Tuesday’s last trade was at $306.33, up over 3% on the day.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $220 price objective on the legacy chip leader in front of first-quarter earnings. The consensus target is just $197.18. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $179.06.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating but lifted the $41 target price to $50. The consensus target is $44.61. The stock closed on Tuesday at $46.16, down almost 5% for the day.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the credit card giant and has a $275 target price. The consensus target is $272.13. The final trade on Tuesday was at $215.70 a share.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): Rosenblatt started coverage on the media and theme park giant with a Buy rating and a $177 target price. Shares have traded as high as $189.22 in the past year but closed on Tuesday at $131.90, after a 3% or so gain on the day.

Five large-cap energy stocks are ideal for growth stock investors looking to capitalize on the solid pricing and demand environment in the sector. They may be somewhat off-the-radar picks, but they offer reasonable entry points now.

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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Antero Resources, Apple, Caesars Entertainment, Coinbase Global, Continental Resources, Electronic Arts, EQT, Goldman Sachs, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Morgan Stanley, Netflix, Roblox, Twitter, UnitedHealth and Wells Fargo. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Alphabet, Amazon.com, Archer Daniels Midland, Dow, Newmont, NXP Semiconductors, Spotify Technology and more.

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