The futures traded higher Monday, as shell-shocked investors returned for another week of potential selling as the litany of negative voices has grown louder across Wall Street. This chorus of voices, of course, was not heard much a short six months ago. While the major indexes closed mixed Friday due to a late afternoon rally that helped the S&P 500 avoid bear market status, the venerable index closed down for the seventh straight week for the first time since 2001. The Nasdaq, which did end lower on Friday, is down 28% since hitting a 52-week high last November.

Investors’ anxiety was seen in the Treasury markets again, and yields dropped Friday across the curve, with the benchmark 30-year bond closing under the 3% level as frightened market participants continued to seek out the safe haven of U.S. government debt. Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed flat Friday, but still over the $110 mark for both, while natural gas closed down as traders anticipate a stretch of cooler weather. Gold closed Friday flat, while Bitcoin closed marginally higher but still below the $30,000 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 Monday, May 23, 2022.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT): Goldman Sachs lowered its $151 price target on the semiconductor capital equipment giant to $133 but maintained a Buy rating. The consensus target is higher at $164.96. The shares closed almost 4% lower on Friday at $106.46.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $255 price target in front of this week’s earnings report. The consensus target is higher at $277.41. Friday’s closing price was $191.41 a share.

Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Though Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating, it also lowered the $85 target price to $61. The stock has traded as high as $82.00 in the past year but closed most recently at $38.69 a share.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BJ): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and $70 price target following much better than expected quarterly results. The consensus target is $71.39. Despite the solid results, shares closed down almost 9% on Friday to $52.29.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVE): Goldman Sachs raised its $21 target price objective on the Buy-rated shares to $24. The consensus target is $23.66. The close on Friday was at $21.36.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): Citigroup downgraded the fiber optics giant to Neutral from Buy and lowered the $46 price objective to $37. The consensus target is $44.73. The final trade on Friday was reported at $33.13.

CubeSmart (NASDAQ: CUBE): Raymond James raised its Outperform rating to Strong Buy but cut the $60 target price to $52. The consensus target is $57.56. The stock closed on Friday at $40.84.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK): Though Baird maintained an Outperform rating, it slashed the $525 price target to $375. The consensus target for now is $434.23. Friday’s closing trade at $255.28 was up close to 13% after the company posted strong results and offered solid forward guidance.

Doximity Inc. (NYSE: DOCS): Jefferies kept a Buy rating and has a $46 target price after the company posted solid results, though the forward guidance was far less than expected. The consensus target is $50.15. The closed almost 3% lower on Friday at $31.56.

ESAB Corp. (NYSE: ESAB): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating with a $56 price objective. The post-IPO high was $58.08 but the close on Friday was at $47.50.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ): Citigroup downgraded the legacy technology giant to Neutral from Buy and trimmed the $40 price target to $38. The consensus target is $37.27. The shares closed 3% lower on Friday at $34.65.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $134 target price after this month’s announcement of the deal to acquire Black Knight for $13 billion. The consensus target is $140.33. The stock closed at $97.62 on Friday.

Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating, citing the company’s defensive posture. The $62 target price is higher than the $55 consensus figure, and Friday’s closing trade was at $49.49.

Macerich Co. (NYSE: MAC): Goldman Sachs trimmed its $13.50 target price to $12 while maintaining a Sell rating. The consensus target is up at $16.67. The shares closed just over 3% lower on Friday at $11.47.

Matador Resources Co. (NYSE: MTDR): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with an $89 price target following a positive meeting with company management. The consensus target is just $72.75. The close on Friday was at $50.39.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and has a $240 price objective. The consensus target is $269.90. The last trade on Friday was reported at $210.28

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Baird maintained its Outperform rating on the bellwether cybersecurity leader and has a $625 target price. The consensus target is $638.00. The shares closed Friday at $478.68, up close to 10% after reporting very impressive results for the quarter.
Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the popular discount retailer but dropped the $115 price objective to $90. The consensus target is $113.48 for now. The stock was hammered Friday, down over 22% to close at $71.87, after earnings, revenue and same-store sales all missed Wall Street estimates.

Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE: SU): Goldman Sachs raised the $38 target price on the Canadian energy giant to $43 while keeping a Buy rating. The $41.30 consensus target also compares to Friday’s closing print of $38.08.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO): Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating and has a $620 target price. The consensus target is up at $669.53. The stock closed on Friday at $555.15.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC): Stifel lowered its $74 target price to $42 while keeping a Hold rating on the shares. The consensus target is $67.73. The stock closed Friday at $47.32, up over 6% after posting inline profits while revenues beat estimates.

Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): Jefferies maintained a Hold rating with a $335 target price. The consensus target is $350.83. The stock closed at $318.95 on Friday.

Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and has a $115 target. The consensus target is $103.13. The shares have traded in a very wide 52-week range of $56.24 to $309, and on Friday they closed at $67.35.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Citing the pain of low prices and high costs, Zacks selected this major retailer as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $160.77 in the past year but closed most recently at $119.20. That is down about 14% year to date.

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Seven dividend-paying tech sector leaders have been caught up in the “sell everything and head for the hills” hysteria. They are trading at bargain-basement prices now and will flourish long after the current bear market has passed.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Bath & Bodyworks, Carvana, Cisco Systems, Core Scientific, Costco Wholesale, Doximity, Healthpeak Properties, Lowe’s Companies, Physicians Realty Trust, Plains All-American Pipeline, Schlumberger, Target, Under Armour and VICI Properties. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Air Products and Chemicals, Bentley Systems, Comerica, Coupa Software, Dow, Ecolab, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Pure Storage, Ross Stores, Wix.com and more.

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