The futures traded lower Wednesday, as we hit the midway point in the trading week after a back and forth session on Tuesday where, by the closing bell, all the major indexes ended higher. Some very cautious updates from big-box retailer Target, which followed the dreadful earnings report from the company last month, was a clear negative to start the day, but the risk-on crowd showed up in the afternoon as big tech names led the charge higher.

The key data point this week remains the consumer price index data, which is due on Friday. Analysts are expecting a print resembling the April number of an 8.3% year-over-year increase, keeping inflation levels at a 40-year high.

The big buying Tuesday was in the Treasury market, after yields had jumped to a three-year high on Monday. Both the five-year and 10-year notes dropped back below the 3% level, while the benchmark 30-year bond closed at a 3.12% yield.

The bad news for consumers was the continued march higher in oil prices, as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed at over $120 a barrel. Natural gas also traded higher, up to $9.32. Gold closed higher, while Bitcoin once again closed lower, just above the $31,000 mark.

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, June 8, 2022.

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO): Morgan Stanley downgraded the tobacco giant to Underweight from Equal Weight and lowered the $54 price target to $50. The analysts’ consensus target is $56.83. The stock closed on Tuesday at $54.01 per share.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC): Deutsche Bank’s upgrade to Buy from Hold included a price target boost to $178 from $167. The consensus target is $171.09. The stock closed on Tuesday at $149.56.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating for the venerable technology colossus and has a $190 target price, after a series of new product announcements for its hardware and software at the company’s developers conference. The consensus target is $188.92. Tuesday’s final trade was at $148.71 a share.

Avnet Inc. (NASDAQ: AVT): Stifel raised its $45 price target on the Hold-rated shares to $53. The consensus target is $46.25. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $49.07.

Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE: BSAC): Itau BBA downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and has a $22 target price. The consensus target is $22.27. The stock closed Tuesday at $19.49.
Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Zacks selected this retailer as its Bear of the Day stock, with the analyst citing inflationary pressures weighing on future earnings. Shares have traded as high as $82.00 in the past year but closed most recently at $37.67. That is down about 46% year to date.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $51 target price after a positive meeting with company executives. The consensus price target is $46. The closing share price on Tuesday was $39.83.

CarParts.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS): Bulls are driving this car parts stock higher, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $8.37 and have a $16.00 consensus target, which represents more than 90% upside potential.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): Goldman Sachs raised its $160 target price on the integrated energy heavyweight to $181 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $178.43. The stock closed 2% higher on Tuesday at $180.36.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the energy giant and hiked the price target to $117 from $104. The consensus target is $96.93, and Tuesday’s final print was $103.35.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Goldman Sachs slashed the price target on the ground and air delivery giant to $291 from $331 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $288.54. The last trade on Tuesday was at $221.33.

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE: EAF): Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral and lowered the $13 price target to $10. The consensus target is $10.79. The stock closed at $9.03 on Tuesday.

Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ: LBTYA): Berenberg raised the shares from Hold to Buy with a $230 price target. The consensus target is $36.68. The stock closed on Tuesday at $24.25.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating after the company once again posted outstanding quarterly results. The firm’s $450 target price is well above the $410.41 consensus and Tuesday’s closing print of $306.19.

McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK): Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy and raised the $343 price objective to $378. The consensus target is $366.23. Tuesday’s close was at $321.65.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In Line from Outperform and has a $74 target price. The consensus target for the energy giant is $73.35. The shares closed Tuesday at $70.55. As it is trading not far below the 52-week high, this may be a valuation call, despite the surge in oil prices.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU): Jefferies upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and boosted the $25 target price to $36. The consensus price objective is $28. The stock closed Tuesday’s trading at $28.55, up 9% after this upgrade.
Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Piper Sandler resumed coverage with a Neutral rating, and it has an $18 price target. The consensus target is up at $36.50. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $18.85. The shares traded up almost 3% in premarket action.

Q2 Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: QTWO): Baird maintained an Outperform rating with a $77 target price objective. The consensus target is $73.75. The shares have been volatile since the company rejected takeover bids that came in below expectations. The stock closed Tuesday at $46.27, up 4% on the day, but it fell 5% in the aftermarket.

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and bumped the $92 price target up to $93. The consensus target is $78.39. The shares closed over 3% higher in Tuesday’s session at $78.40.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): BofA Securities downgraded the shares after the guidance warning to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $235 price target to $165. The consensus target is higher for now at $197.52. The stock closed on Tuesday at $155.98, down almost 3% for the day, and it was lower in premarket trading.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $250 target price after the company released positive guidance. The consensus target is $243.19. Tuesday’s close was at $201.11 a share.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS): Goldman Sachs lowered its $239 price target to $215. The analyst reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $222.14, and shares were last seen on Tuesday at $185.51.

Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and lifted the price objective to $24 from $17. The consensus target is $20.88. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $18.65. Note that Jefferies is very bullish on mining stocks now.

XP Inc. (NASDAQ: XP): Though UBS upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral, it dropped the $37 price target to $31. The consensus target is $41.56. The shares closed almost 4% higher on Tuesday at $23.70.

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Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Best Buy, Cigna, Exxon Mobil, Futu, GoodRx, Lululemon Athletica, Merck, Monster Beverage, MP Materials, Nike, Visa and Walmart. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on BHP, Booz Allen Hamilton, Devon Energy, Mirati Therapeutics, Novo Nordisk, NRG Energy and more.

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