The futures were lower on Thursday after a massive risk-off day across Wall Street in which all the major indexes blasted higher. As expected, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell announced an increase of the federal funds rate by 50 basis points, the largest in 20 years. He walked back bigger increases that some had feared and laid the groundwork for similar increases to come in June and July. In addition, the run-off for the Federal Reserve’s massive balance sheet is underway in June, but will only start at $30 billion per month, before ramping up to $60 billion in three months, for Treasury securities. That was less than anticipated.

For agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, Powell indicated that the cap initially will be set at $17.5 billion per month and, after three months, will increase to $35 billion per month. Both run-offs are intended to start lowering the staggering $8.5 trillion amount that resides on the books at the Fed.

Responding to the rate increases and the positive Fed-speak, yields were lower across the Treasury curve, with the five-year and 10-year notes and the 30-year long bond all closing higher as buyers stepped in. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude spiked higher on reports that the European Union is proposing to ban all Russian imports by the end of the year. This despite an unexpected crude inventory build. Natural gas again surged higher, up almost 4%, while gold closed the day flat.

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 Thursday, May 5, 2022.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the chip giant after the company posted very solid results. The analyst has a $133 target price, but the consensus target is higher at $145.88. The stock closed more than 9% higher on Wednesday at $99.42.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $210 price target. The consensus target is $197.63. The final trade Wednesday was reported at $156.18, a one-day gain of almost 8% after the company posted solid results and had very positive forward guidance.

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Baird kept a Speculative Risk rating on the biotech giant and has a $224 target price. The consensus target is up at $243.79, but Wednesday’s closing print was $210.10.
Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Oppenheimer resumed full coverage of the stock with an Outperform rating and a $150 target price. The consensus target is higher at $173.05. Wednesday’s close at $106.79 was up over 4% for the day.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR): Stifel maintained a Buy rating on the gaming and casino giant but cut the $127 target price to $113. That is right in line with the $113.64 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $66.39.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the car retailer and has a $125 target price. The lower $113.85 consensus target is closer to the closing share price of $100.18 on Wednesday, which was up over 5% for the day.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Mizuho upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and moved the price objective to $350 from $340. The consensus target is $362.45. The stock closed at $287.37 on Wednesday.

Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating with a $340 target price after the company posted very strong first-quarter results. The consensus target is $349.86. The stock closed on Wednesday at $280.06.

Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (NYSE: HLF): Jefferies lowered its Buy rating to Hold with a $26 target price. No consensus price objective was available. The shares closed over 6% lower on Wednesday at $25.85.

Hub Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG): Stifel raised its $95 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $111 after the company posted outstanding first-quarter numbers. The consensus target is $96. The last trade on Wednesday was up over 6% on the day to $78.36.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $109 price objective. The consensus target is $92. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Wednesday at $80.72.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) Stifel maintained a Hold rating and slashed the $46 price target on the ride-sharing stock to $28 after the company reported dumpster fire results. The consensus target is $55.66 for now. The stock crashed Wednesday, down a stunning 30%, to close at $21.56.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the athletic shoe and apparel giant and has a $165 target price. The consensus is $166.87. The stock closed on Wednesday at $126.06.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating on the shares but lowered the $54 price target to $37. The consensus target is $38.44. The shares closed on Wednesday at $30.18.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA): Goldman Sachs began coverage with a Neutral rating and a $86 target. The consensus target is up at 110.80. The shares closed 4% higher on Wednesday at $75.79.

Red Rock Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: RRR): Stifel lowered the $55 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $50. The consensus target is $56. The stock closed at $41.57 after the company posted first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that topped estimates but revenues lagged.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating with a $62 target price. The consensus target is $68.57. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $54.31.

Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but lowered the price objective to $65 from $70. The consensus target is $67.44 for now. The stock closed Wednesday at $37.01, down almost 15% for the day despite reasonable numbers and earnings growth reported.

Skillsoft Corp. (NYSE: SKIL): Barclays resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $7 target price. The consensus target is $11.75. The stock closed on Wednesday at $5.08.

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a $425 target price objective, following the recently completed merger with IHS Markit. The consensus target is higher at $475. The closing share price on Wednesday was $364.32.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the ubiquitous coffee retailer and has an $85 price objective. The consensus target is $104.03. The shares ended trading on Wednesday at $81.64.

Tetra Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TTI): Stifel lifted the target price on Buy-rated shares to $6 from $5. The consensus target is $5.50. The stock closed at $4.57 on Wednesday.

Seven dividend-paying S&P 500 stocks should all hold up better in a sharp sell-off than high-beta momentum stocks will. They are strong players in their respective sectors and incredible ideas in a very shaky market.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Academy Sports & Outdoors, Arista Networks, Colgate-Palmolive, Expedia, Global Payments, Huntsman, InMode, ON Semiconductor and ZoomInfo Technologies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Block, Lyft, Starbucks and more.

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