The futures were lower Monday, as we start the new trading week on the heels of a massive risk-on rally Friday that many across Wall Street were chalking up to extremely oversold conditions and a large degree of short covering. Despite Friday’s rally, the same conditions that have caused selling for the better part of this year remain in place: very hawkish monetary policy, consumer sentiment hitting an 11-year low, 40-year high inflation, the China lockdowns and, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine.

While all the major indexes closed higher on Friday for the first time in a while, it was not enough to save a horrific week, as the Dow Jones industrials closed with a seventh weekly loss in a row, marking the longest losing streak for the venerable index since 2001. The S&P 500 slid 2.4% to post its longest weekly losing streak since 2011, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.8%.

Yields were higher across the Treasury curve Friday, when the five-year and 10-year notes and the benchmark 30-year bond yields all closed at least 10 basis points higher. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed up nearly 4%, while natural gas closed lower, down less than 1%. Gold closed lower, and Bitcoin, which was throttled along with all the cryptocurrencies last week, ended Friday at $30,005, up nearly 4%.

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 16, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the company, which analyst feels is well-positioned in the lithium market, and has a $290 price target. The consensus price objective is $275.21. The closed over 7% higher on Friday at $228.82.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA): J.P. Morgan upgraded the shares from Underweight to Overweight and boosted the $75 price target to $130. The consensus target is up at $173.87. The shares closed almost 9% higher on Friday at $87.99.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating in front of this week’s earnings report and has a $210 target price. The consensus target for the chip giant is $203.20. The closed almost 4% higher on Friday at $158.74.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BALL): Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating and an $87 target price. The shares have traded as high as $98.09 in the past year but closed at $69.71 on Friday.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating ahead of the upcoming investor day, and it has a $260 price objective The consensus target is $235.12. Friday’s final trade was for $204.41.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET): Stifel lowered its $105 price target on the Neutral-rated company to $70. The consensus target is up at $123.71. The last trade on Friday was reported at $66.38.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $197 target price objective. Meanwhile, citing lower trading and higher costs, Zacks selected this cryptocurrency exchange platform operator as its Bear of the Day stock. The consensus target is $191.41, but despite closing over 16% higher on Friday, the stock was last seen at just $67.87.

CyberArk Inc. (NASDAQ: CYBR): Goldman Sachs lowered its $185 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $158. The consensus target for the cybersecurity stock is $174.10. The shares closed almost 11% higher on Friday at $133.57.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK): Stifel slashed the $445 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $315. The consensus target is $444.23. The shares ended the day on Friday up 4% at $246.51.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Jefferies resumed coverage of the gaming and fantasy sports heavyweight with a Buy rating and a $33 target price. The consensus target is $27.34. The stock closed almost 11% higher on Friday at $12.61.

Duolingo Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOL): Goldman Sachs cut its $120 price target on the language learning app provider to $106 while maintaining a Neutral rating on the shares. The consensus target is $119.43. The $89.77 close on Friday was up over 34% after the company posted strong first-quarter metrics.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM): Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on the financial services giant and has a $125 target price. The consensus target is up at $157.32. The shares closed at $119.08 on Friday.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR): Zacks has named this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst points out that U.S. travel and tourism spending is projected to surge to $1.1 trillion, more than 11% above pre-pandemic levels. Shares last closed at $166.40, and the consensus price target is $180.09.

NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE): The analysts at Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $225 price objective after the company posted solid first-quarter results. The consensus target is much higher at $291. The shares were last seen up close to 7% on Friday to $202.86.

PetIQ Inc. (NASDAQ: PETQ): Oppenheimer lowered its Outperform rating to Perform after a new analyst assumed coverage on the stock, but it did not update its price target. The consensus target is $34.50. Friday’s closing share price was $16.21.
Poshmark Inc. (NASDAQ: POSH): Stifel trimmed its $15 price target on the Neutral-rated stock to $12. The consensus target is $17. Friday’s close at $12.04 was up 24% on the day after solid first-quarter results were posted.

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: PBH): Jefferies raised its Neutral rating to Buy and has a price objective of $70. The consensus target is $66.40. The last trade on Friday was reported at $56.78.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): Goldman Sachs cut its $48 price target on the electric vehicle maker to $36 while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is up at $68.57. The $26.70 close on Friday was up almost 10% for the day.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $60 price target and cited the stock as a top pick. The consensus target for the entertainment park heavyweight is $53.58. The last trade for Friday was up over 3% on the day to $29.17.

Starry Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: STRY): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating while trimming the $10 target price to $9. The closing share price on Friday was $8.16.

Toast Inc. (NYSE: TOST): Goldman Sachs lowered the $25 price target on the Neutral-rated stock to $22. The consensus target is $29.50. Friday’s $14.99 close was up almost 5% for the day.

Twilio Inc. (NASDAQ: TWLO): Baird downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform and lowered the $155 price target to $120. The consensus target is up at $220.66. The stock closed almost 12% higher on Friday at $110.79, but shares slipped over 3% in Monday’s premarket.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Jefferies kept a Buy rating in front of the upcoming earnings report, which marks the unofficial end of the S&P 500 first-quarter earnings reporting season. The analysts have a $175 price target for the retail giant, while the consensus target is $166.47. The shares closed on Friday at $148.05.

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With the highest inflation in 40 years, now is a good time for investors to move to top value stocks that pay dividends. Five top BofA Securities picks look poised to stand tall if the market sell-off continues and could be big 2022 winners.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AppLovin, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Boeing, CF Industries, Coupa Software, Crocs, Dutch Bros, DigitalOcean, Gilead Sciences, IBM, International Game Technology, Rivian Automotive, Roblox, VICI Properties and Visa, Walt Disney. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Carvana, First Solar, Ford, UPS, Waste Management and more.

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