The futures were lower once again, as shell-shocked investors return for another week with volatility increasing and seemingly every uptick and rally being sold. The major indexes were all hit again on Friday, with both the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 reaching 52-week lows. Clearly, Thursday’s drastic sell-off has put a chill on investors. And the parabolic rise in interest rates was a huge contributing factor to last week’s rollercoaster ride. While Federal Reserve Chair Powell suggested that, for now, the 75-basis-point hikes are off the table, still we will have back-to-back June and July 50-basis-point increases.

The April nonfarm payrolls came in higher than expected Friday, which was at least one positive for a negative and reeling stock market. Oil prices moved up, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate closing higher on Friday, after taking a breather for most of the week. Natural gas closed lower, down almost 5% Friday, after a massive run that has taken prices over $8 for the first time since 2008. Gold also closed higher on Friday.

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 Monday, May 9, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $368 price objective. The consensus target of analysts is just $255.16. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Friday at $242.41.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Goldman Sachs slashed its $320 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $216. The consensus target is $302.53 for now. The last trade Friday was reported at $121, down over 20% for the day despite some positive metrics during earnings.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating following a solid earnings report but cut the $173 price target to $152. The consensus target is $172.71. The last trade for Friday was reported at $96.16.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Jefferies reaffirmed a Buy rating on the multi-faceted golf company and has a large $60 target price. The consensus is just $38.58, and the closing share price on Friday was $20.24.

Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI): Cowen raised its Market Perform rating on the health care giant to Outperform and lifted the $242 price target to $329. The shares closed up almost 6% on Friday at $266.90.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed the $200 price target to $120, in line with the $120.11 consensus target. The stock closed over 7% lower on Friday at $60.87.
CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM): Goldman Sachs bumped its $9 target price up to $10 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $10.25. The stock closed up almost 4%  on Friday at $7.60.

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH): Credit Suisse raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $45 target price. J.P. Morgan cut the stock from Overweight to Neutral with a $30 target. The consensus target is $43.73. The stock closed Friday at $22.22, which was down almost 20% on the day after earnings fell short of estimates.

Excelerate Energy Inc. (NYSE: EE) Raymond James started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $30 target price. Barclays began covering the stock at Overweight with a $33 target, while SMBC Nikko started coverage with an Outperform rating and price objective of $32. There is no consensus rating, as the company had a recent and successful initial public offering. The shares ended Friday trading at $26.90.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $61 price target, citing the new partnership the athletic shoe retailing giant signed with Adidas. That compares with a much lower $32.65 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $29.49.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS): Citing supply chain constraints, Zacks has selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $37.63 in the past year but closed most recently at $12.69. That is down more than 28% since the beginning of the year.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co. (NYSE: GPK): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst points out that this stock has withstood the brutal market fall in 2022 to hit new highs in May, following strong first-quarter results. Shares last closed at $21.75 and have a consensus price target of $24.52, which would be a 52-week high.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS): Stifel kept a Buy rating on the shares but dropped the $700 price target to $575. The consensus target is $652.28 for now. The final trade on Friday was reported at $356.38, which was up almost 5% after the CRM platform provider posted very solid first-quarter results.

Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR): Baird has an Outperform rating on the stock, which is one of the firm’s top ideas, but it trimmed the $59 target price to $52. The consensus target is $57.93. The shares closed almost 4% lower on Friday at $43.80.

iRhythm Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: IRTC): Oppenheimer stuck with an Outperform rating and a $175 price target after the company posted solid results that topped its expectations. The $157 consensus target is lower but compares with Friday’s closing print of $124.97, which was up almost 6% for the day.

Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL): Baird marinated a Buy rating on the pool supply company but sliced the $28 target price to $25. The consensus target is $28.92. The stock closed at $19.64 on Friday.
Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA): Goldman Sachs slashed its $363 target price on the vaccine maker to $290 but kept its Buy rating. The consensus target is $227.63, and shares closed over 5% lower on Friday at $134.40.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MPWR): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $500 price target. The consensus target is up at $567.56. The shares closed on Friday at $444.94.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on the wildly popular pizza giant but sliced the $145 target price to $130. The consensus target is $130.50. The stock closed down almost 3% on Friday to $87.36.

Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN): Stifel lowered its $61 price target on the gaming heavyweight to $50 while staying with a Buy rating. The consensus target is $62.24. The stock closed down over 6% to $34.33 on Friday.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on the biotech leader, and it has a $775 target price. The consensus target is $701.67. The stock closed on Friday at $623.05.

Shake Shack Inc. (NASDAQ: SHAK): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the popular fast-food chain and lowered the $65 price target to $58. The consensus target is $76.06. The last trade on Friday was reported at $54.70.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): Though Stifel slashed its $800 price target to $650, it kept a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target for now is $1,464.59. The stock closed almost 9% lower on Friday at $377.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Baird’s downgrade to Neutral from Outperform included a price target hike to $250 from $240. The consensus target is up at $289.38. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Friday at $253.93.

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Goldman Sachs kept a Neutral rating and a $38 price target on the online real estate company. The consensus target is $66.58, and the final trade for Friday was down close to 4% for the day at $37.37.

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The stock markets very possibly stand on the precipice of a decline like many investors have never seen. 24/7 Wall St. has five considerations for investors who may have to prepare for the worst.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, Amazon.com, APA, CF Industries, Costco Wholesale, eBay, Etsy, GoDaddy, Intercontinental Exchange, Lululemon Athletica, Match, MetLife, Twilio, Uber Technologies, Virgin Galactic and Wayfair. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Amarin, Ardely, Ball, Coupang, Hanesbrands, United Airlines, Vimeo and more.

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