The futures traded lower once again Tuesday. After a wretched early start Monday, the markets turned around in a massive way to post gains across the board. The Treasury bond market saw big early buying across the curve, with the yields dropping in a big way on the five-year and 10-year notes early, and finally closing lower by nine and eight basis points, respectively. That can only mean one thing: nervous investors are rushing to government bonds looking for safe-haven protection from the recent equity carnage after a big run-up in yields over the past month.

The only good news for beleaguered consumers, who continue to face a rising tide of inflation and prices, was that both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, with each trading down almost 4%. Natural gas fought the energy selling trend on Monday, closing up over 2%. Gold rallied after a slow start to close slightly higher at the pivotal $1,900 per ounce 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 Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Baird kept a Neutral rating on the credit card giant and has a $175 price target after first-quarter results were mostly in line. The consensus target is $201.87. Monday’s close was at $184.10 a share.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Goldman Sachs raised the $46.50 target price to $52.50 but kept a Neutral rating on the energy giant. The consensus target is $49.98. The stock closed Monday at $39.08, which was down 4% for the day.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Baird has an Outperform rating and a $190 price target in front of the technology giant’s Thursday earnings release and suggests buying shares on any weakness after the report, as much of the positive metrics seem priced in now. The consensus target is $193.28. Monday’s final trade was at $162.88.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage on the legacy telecom company with a Buy rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $19.51. The stock closed on Monday at $19.51.

Baker Hughes Co. (NASDAQ: BKR): HSBC Securities raised the oilfield services leader to Buy from Hold and has a $38.20 target price. The consensus target is $40.30. The shares were last seen Monday at $30.74, down almost 5% on the day.
Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating in front of the company’s upcoming analyst day and has a $60 target price. The consensus price objective is $39.17. The shares closed over 3% higher on Monday at $23.40.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): Goldman Sachs raised its target price on the cybersecurity giant to $285 from $241 while maintaining a Buy rating. The last trade for Monday was reported at $214.58, which was a one-day gain of over 4%.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $195 target price. The consensus target is $180.80. Monday’s closing share price was $142.24.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on the chemical giant and has an $84 target price. The consensus price objective is lower at $70.10. The shares closed on Monday at $68.07.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): Goldman Sachs slashed its $120 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $83. The consensus target is $115.33. Monday’s final trade was reported at $74.19, which was up close to 4% for the day.

Hub Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG): Susquehanna raised its Neutral rating to Positive but cut the $92 target price to $83. The consensus target is $89.07. The shares closed Monday at $65.72, up almost 4% on the day.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS): UBS started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $410 target price. That compares with the much higher $666.80 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $401.30.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $588 target price. The consensus target is up at $635.68. The last trade on Monday hit the tape at $446.93.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and boosted the $145 target price on the consumer staples leader to $155. The $127.40 consensus target is also lower than Monday’s close at $143.48.

OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst suggests that a robust earnings history and an improving outlook represent a great opportunity. The stock most recently closed at $41.07, and so far the consensus price target is $41.33.

Poshmark Inc. (NASDAQ: POSH): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of the Neutral-rated shares with a $14 target price. The consensus target is $16.75. The stock was last seen on Monday trading at $12.31 a share.
PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but lowered the target price to $180 from $200. The consensus target is $167.65. The close on Monday was at $129.34.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) Baird maintained a Neutral rating on the bank and has a $23 target price, after the company posted mostly inline results. The consensus target is $26.22. The last trade on Monday was for $21.60 a share.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $330 target price. The consensus target is $292.68. The last trade on Monday was reported at $174.57.

Sleep Number Corp. (NASDAQ: SNBR): Citing earnings misses and deteriorating forecasts, Zacks named this manufacturer as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $121.98 in the past year and last closed at $44.72 apiece. That is down more than 41% year to date.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird cut its $95 price target on the ubiquitous coffee chain to $85 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $108.16. Monday’s close was at $77.98 per share.

Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER): Stifel kept a Hold rating on the stock and has a $115 target price. The consensus target is up at $139.52. The stock closed over 3% higher on Monday at $112.57.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Stifel raised its Sell rating to Hold after an announced acquisition by Elon Musk. The analyst raised the $39 target price to $54.20. The consensus target is $46.63. The stock was closed almost 6% higher on Monday at $51.70.

With economic and market uncertainty prompting investors to look for safe havens, seven “sin” stocks look like outstanding values that should hold up well if things remain rocky, even in a protracted bear market.

One key analyst favors three somewhat under the radar internet stock picks now.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Danaher, DoorDash, Freeport-McMoRan, Gap, Gilead Sciences, Huntington Bancshares, Intuitive Surgical, KeyCorp, Marvell Technology, McDonald’s, Nucor, PayPal, Snap, Snowflake and United Airlines. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Agilent Technologies, Barrick Gold, Deere, Kellogg, Marathon Oil, Newmont, Penn National Gaming, Spotify Technology, Verizon Communications and more.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.