The futures were higher Wednesday, after a decent rally in which all the major indexes closed Tuesday with gains. It is a given that Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell will announce a 50-basis-point hike in the federal funds rate and lay the groundwork for a series of additional hikes for the rest of this year, and perhaps next year as well. Most on Wall Street feel the ultimate target by the end of 2023 will be 3.35%, which is 300 basis points higher than the current rate.

In addition, Powell likely will announce a Federal Reserve balance sheet runoff to begin in June and quickly ramp to $95 billion per month to lower the staggering $8.5 trillion amount that resides on the books at the Fed. Interest rates fell across the treasury curve Tuesday, after both the 20-year and 30-year bonds moved to and over the 3% level this week.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, while natural gas continued its parabolic move, closing at $7.82 a large 4.6% jump. Gold also ended the day modestly higher.

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, May 4, 2022.

Academy Sports & Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO): Goldman Sachs lowered its price target on the popular retailer to $49 from $61 while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $58. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $38.95.

Amresco Inc. (NYSE: AMRC): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating after the company posted solid first-quarter results. The analyst trimmed the $73 target price to $70. That compares with an $80.31 consensus target. The stock closed over 12% higher on Tuesday at $58.32.

Arista Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ANET): Oppenheimer maintained a Perform rating despite a beat-and-raise first-quarter earnings report. The analyst cited valuation and has a $305 price target. The consensus target is $150.82, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $114.03.

BigCommerce Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BIGC): Goldman Sachs lowered its $29 price target to $26 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $32.15. The stock closed over 7% higher on Tuesday at $20.14. The company posted a first-quarter loss but topped revenue estimates.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $100 target price. The consensus target is $116.39. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $83.52.
ChemoCentryx Inc. (NASDAQ: CCXI): Stifel kept a Buy rating and has an $85 target price. The consensus target is $77. The closed almost 6% lower on Tuesday at $17.68.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL): Zacks has selected this stock as its Bear of the Day, citing costs that are adding up for this consumer staples stock. The shares have traded as high as $85.61 in the past year but closed most recently at $74.49, which is down more than 12% year to date.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating on the shares after improving first-quarter results, and the analyst has a $206 target price. The consensus figure is up at $215.27. The stock closed over 14% lower on Tuesday at $150.31, despite the company’s comments about a solid summer season.

Freshpet Inc. (NASDAQ: FRPT): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating while slicing the $120 target price to $110. The consensus target is $130.54, and the shares closed Tuesday at $82.92, after falling almost 11% for the day. Note that the company posted a first-quarter loss while beating revenue estimates, and it announced a secondary stock offering.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Baird trimmed its $205 target price to $192 while keeping an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $183.75. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Tuesday at $128.07.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN): Investors hunting for value should consider this stock, says Zacks, which named this chemicals company as its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $34.44, and the consensus target price of $46.06 would be a 52-week high.

InMode Ltd. (NASDAQ: INMD): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed the $82 target price to $57. The consensus target is $62.33. The stock was closed at $26.05 on Tuesday.

iTron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI): Baird maintained a Neutral rating and cut its $54 price target to $48 after the company reported mixed first-quarter results. The consensus target is up at $65.88. Tuesday’s final trade was at $48.26 per share.

Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. (NYSE: JELD): Baird lowered the $25 price target to $22 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $26.85. The closing share price on Tuesday was $18.67.
Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MPWR): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $500 target price. The consensus target is higher at $558.33. On Tuesday, shares closed at $457.48, up 11% after first-quarter results smashed expectations.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON): The analysts at Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with an $80 price objective. The consensus target is just $72.96. The close on Tuesday was at $56.51.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): Oppenheimer stuck with a Perform rating but did not post a price target. The consensus target is $345.58, and Tuesday’s close was at $262.67.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target on the Buy-rated stock to $108 from $121. The consensus target is $105.28. The stock closed at $72.83 on Tuesday.

Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR): Stifel maintained a Buy rating but cut its $98 price target to $85. The consensus target is $75.30. The shares closed on Tuesday at $60.86.

Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $72 price target, citing the company’s solid earnings report last week. The consensus target is $70.50. The stock closed on Tuesday at $50.58.

Woodward Inc. (NYSE: WWD): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Sell rating after the company posted disappointing numbers and guidance. The analyst has a $91 target price, much lower than the $125.71 consensus figure. The stock closed 7% lower on Tuesday to $102.00.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): Stifel lowered its $85 price target to $75 but kept a Buy rating. The posted consensus target is $77.17. Tuesday’s close at $51.99 what up close to 6% after the company posted solid first-quarter earnings.

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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Array Technologies, Boeing, Carvana, DocuSign, Enterprise Products Partners, Fiserv, Johnson Controls, Monster Beverage, Nvidia, PayPal, PG&E, T-Mobile and Uber Technologies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on JPMorgan, Kellogg, Morgan Stanley and more.

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