The futures were lower Thursday, after the Federal Reserve announcement that the federal funds rate will be increased by 75 basis points, which sends a clear signal that inflation is a huge priority. The last time the Federal Reserve raised rates this much was in November 1994, when the central bank was able to orchestrate a soft landing by tightening monetary policy ahead of rising inflation. The problem this time, and everybody across Wall Street knows it (and finally Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted it) is that current soaring inflation is way ahead of the Fed and is coming in at 40-year highs.

The major indexes closed higher after the announcement in the afternoon. Treasury yields across the curve were lower as buyers stepped in for the first time since last week, as both the five-year and 10-year notes hit 52-week high yields on Tuesday. Gold closed higher, while cryptocurrencies once again were down. Though Bitcoin was flat, it was down a sharp 6% Thursday morning.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower after the big rate hike, but natural gas ended the session higher, after being walloped Tuesday when Freeport LNG, the nation’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, said its plant that shut down last week due to an explosion probably will not return to full operations until near the end of this year.

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 Thursday, June 16, 2022.

Armstrong Worldwide Industries Inc. (NYSE: AWI): Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has set a $95 target price. The consensus target is $105.70. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $79.40.

Bragg Gaming Group Inc. (NASDAQ: BRAG): Maxim Group started coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 target price. Shares have traded as high as $12.60 in the past year but closed most recently at $5.05.

Cabot Corp. (NYSE: CBT): Zacks has picked this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst points out that chemicals were a hot trade but now the earnings are catching up. Shares last closed at $67.60, and the consensus price target of $85.80 would be an all-time high.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Goldman Sachs lowered its $80 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $70. The consensus target is $149.17 The stock closed almost 7% higher on Wednesday at $55.01.
Comtech Telecommunications Inc. (NASDAQ: CMTL): Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and slashed the $32 price target to $10. The consensus target is up at $20.88. The last trade for Wednesday was reported at $9.49.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): Stifel downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and lowered the $107 target price to $70. The consensus target is $76.08. Thursday’s close was at $71.61.

Core & Main Inc. (NYSE: CNM): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target to $27 from $31 while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $30.73. The closing share price on Wednesday was $22.44.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR): Deutsche Bank lowered its Buy rating to Hold and sliced the $150 price target to $144. That compares with a $161.05 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $128.93.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the legacy delivery giant and has a $300 target price. The consensus target is $285.89. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $232.78. Shares were down almost 7% in the premarket.

Globe Life Inc. (NYSE: GL): Evercore ISI’s upgrade to Outperform from Inline included a target price hike to $112 from $105. The consensus target is $106.44. The stock closed over 4% higher on Wednesday at $93.26.

Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: JKHY): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $190 price target. The consensus target is $191.67. Wednesday’s close was at $179.27.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX): B. Riley Securities downgraded the semiconductor capital equipment giant to Neutral from Buy and slashed the $625 price target to $525. The consensus target is $640.97. The shares closed at $453.64.

Olin Corp. (NYSE: OLN): RBC Capital Markets reiterated an Outperform rating but lowered the $83 price target to $76. The consensus target is $76.06, and Wednesday’s $51.46 closing share price was down just over 10% on the day.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but lowered the target price to $8 from $10. The consensus target is $ 12.31. The stock closed Wednesday at $4.56, which was down almost 12% for the day.

PubMatic Inc. (NASDAQ: PUBM): Lake Street started coverage with a Buy rating and a $26 price objective. The consensus target is $29.39. Wednesday’s close at $18.92 was up over 7% for the day, likely on the strength of the upgrade.
Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC): B. Riley Securities lowered its Buy rating to Neutral and cut the $87 target price to $65. The consensus price target is $85. The stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $57.34.

Sonos Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a target price cut to $28 from $38. The consensus target is $33.29. The stock closed on Wednesday at $19.42.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): Benchmark raised the natural gas player’s rating from Hold to Buy with a $14 target price. The consensus target is just $10.93. The close on Wednesday was at $7.76 a share.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT): Wells Fargo upgraded shares of the music streaming heavyweight to Equal Weight from Underweight. It also lifted its $101 price target to $124, but the consensus target is still higher at $146.88. The shares ended Wednesday almost 8% higher to $105.35.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR): The Jefferies upgrade was to Buy from Hold, and the price target increased to $45 from $30. The consensus target is $45.72. The shares closed Wednesday at $32.70, which was up almost 4% after the upgrade.

Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE: UP): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $5 target. The consensus target is $5.40. The stock closed Wednesday at $2.35, up a stunning 22% for the day, likely on the upgrade.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, Bridgebio Pharma, Chesapeake Energy, eBay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huntsman, New York Community Bancorp, Nucor, Oracle, PBF Energy, Phillips 66, United States Steel and Valero Energy. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Coinbase Global, Marvel Technology, Nike, Robinhood Markets, Snowflake and more.

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