The futures traded lower on Wednesday after a wretched day for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 on Tuesday, while the Dow Jones industrials eked out a small gain. The risk-off contingent returned with a vengeance, as the lion’s share of Monday’s gains for the two indexes that took it on the chin were surrendered, and the culprits remain the same: investors are very worried about the spiraling inflation and the threat of recession, and with good reason. With prices at the gas pump and the grocery store soaring, growth in the economy could slow dramatically this summer.

Once again, worried investors fled to the Treasury market seeking a safe haven and yields across the curve dropped dramatically. The only bright spot in the turbulence is mortgage rates, which have risen sharply, have fallen back to a one-month low. This could be big as the residential real estate industry moves into the busiest time of the year.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed flat on the day, a positive for motorists gearing up for the Memorial Day weekend holiday, while natural gas continued its march higher, closing at $8.84. Gold also closed higher for the second day in a row, while Bitcoin closed up 1% but below the $30,000 mark again.

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 25, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Zacks has named this specialty chemicals maker as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst points out that its 2022 earnings are expected to soar. Shares last closed at $243.15, and the consensus price target is $279.47.

Applied Blockchain Inc. (NASDAQ: APLD): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Buy rating and a $6 target price. The consensus target is higher at $8.65. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Tuesday at $3.66.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH): Suggesting that consumers may be hitting pause on RVs, Zacks selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $46.77 in the past year but closed most recently at $25.82. That is down about 36% year to date.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB): Citigroup initiated coverage on the insurance giant with a Neutral rating and a $209 target price. The stock hit a recent 52-week high of $218.99 but closed most recently at $208.15.
CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP): Goldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating and cut the $52 target price to $46. The consensus target is $116.55 for now. The stock closed over 4% lower on Tuesday at $52.38.

Dolby Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: DLB): Rosenblatt began coverage with a Buy rating and a $90 target, which is the same as the consensus target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $73.93.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): Bernstein maintained an Outperform rating with a $65 price target. The consensus target is $59.37. The stock closed at $45.19 on Tuesday.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Johnson Rice’s upgrade of the energy giant to Buy from Hold included a target price hike to $165 from $155. The consensus target is $149.60. The stock closed on Tuesday at $129.25.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Bernstein initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and has a $105 target price. The consensus target is up at $152.11. The shares closed Tuesday at $70.21, down almost 8% for the day on no news that we could find.

Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXF): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and remains bullish on the long-term opportunities for the company. The analyst has a $140 price target, which compares with a $121 consensus target and Tuesday’s last print of $76.61.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $192 target price. The consensus target is just $178.82. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $122.86.

IMAX Corp. (NASDAQ: IMAX): Rosenblatt started coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target. The consensus target is $24.25. The stock closed 4% lower on Tuesday at $15.06.

Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM): Goldman Sachs lowered its $56 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $48. The consensus target is $49.10. The stock closed over 4% lower on Tuesday at $19.18.

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IQV): Guggenheim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $244 target price. That compares with the $263.13 consensus price objective and Tuesday’s closing print of $201.99.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the banking and investment giant and has a $150 target price. The consensus target is $157.43. The stock closed at $126.36 on Tuesday.

Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: LSCC): Susquehanna upgraded the shares from Neutral to Positive with a $65 price objective. The consensus target is $70.78. The stock closed at $47.54 on Tuesday.
MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET): Citigroup initiated coverage on the insurance heavyweight with a Buy rating and a $77 price objective. The consensus target is $77.77. The close on Tuesday was at $63.88.

Otis Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: OTIS): Barclays upgraded the shares from Equal Weight to Overweight with an $82 price target. The consensus target is $87.23. The shares closed on Tuesday at $75.49.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $205 price objective. The consensus target is much higher at $274.97. The stock was last seen Tuesday at $156.93.

Similarweb Ltd. (NYSE: SMWB): Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $17 price objective. The consensus target is $21.20, and the stock closed at $9.04 on Tuesday.

Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and an $82 target price. The consensus target is $76.69. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $64.83.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Bernstein started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $45 target. The consensus target for now is $101.38. The stock was hammered Tuesday, closing down almost 10% at $45.51, as retail-related stocks stay under pressure.

Zillow Group Inc. (NYSE: ZG): Bernstein started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $45 target price. The consensus target is $49.05. All the online real estate stocks were all blistered on Tuesday, and Zillow ended the day over 11% lower to $36.40.

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Seven Warren Buffett top stock picks look like solid ideas for worried investors seeking to stay in equities but who want to stick with dividend-paying companies that can weather the coming recession and possible steep market decline.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alibaba, American Express, Amgen, Blue Owl Capital, Boeing, Carnival, CoStar, Deere, eBay, Eli Lilly, Foot Locker, Home Depot, Juniper Networks, Kohl’s, LyondellBasell Industries, Marathon Oil, Moderna, Petco Health, Realty Income and Under Armour. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Allstate, DoorDash, Eaton, Lyft, Progressive, Roblox, Snowflake, Travelers and Uber Technologies and more.

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