The futures were lower after yet another down day Thursday to end the second quarter. All the major indexes closed down, with the Nasdaq leading the trainwreck almost 1.4% lower. The S&P 500 posted the worst quarter since the height of the pandemic fears in 2020, and the worst first half of the year since 1970.

The song remains the same across Wall Street, as fears are increasing that hawkish Federal Reserve policy (which looks to include another 75-basis-point rate increase this month) will have pushed the economy into recession already.

The only buyers that did show up on Thursday were looking for Treasury securities, as interest rates were lower across the yield curve. The benchmark 30-year bond closed at a 3.12% yield, which is down from 3.47% in the middle of June, while the 10-year note closed below the psychologically important 3% level at 2.97%.

Beleaguered consumers also got some relief Thursday as both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, while natural gas was down a stunning 14% as the recent shutdown of Freeport LNG’s liquefied natural gas export plant in Texas allowed utilities to stockpile more fuel than expected, even as hotter weather has kept generators using more gas to keep air conditioners working. Gold was modestly lower, while Bitcoin continued to crash, retreating almost 6%.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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 Friday, July 1, 2022.

Ameren Corp. (NYSE: AEE): Though UBS downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, it lifted the $94 target price to $96. The consensus target is $98.08. The stock closed on Thursday at $90.36 per share.

Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR): D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price objective. The consensus target is $21.50. The stock closed on Thursday at $16.95.

AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): KeyBank Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $55 target price. The consensus target is up at $73.57. The closed over 3% lower on Thursday at $36.44.

Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy but lowered the $140 target price objective to $135. The consensus target is near $137, and the stock ended trading on Thursday at $90.69.
Coty Inc. (NASDAQ: COTY): Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of the cosmetics company with a Neutral rating and an $8 target price. The consensus target is $11.27. The shares closed at $8.01 on Thursday.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR): The Jefferies upgrade to Buy from Hold included a price target hike to $160 from $151. The consensus target is $160.74. The stock closed almost 2% higher on Thursday at $129.83.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Raymond James started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $100 target price. That compares with the higher $136.34 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $73.21

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and boosted the $750 price objective to $790. The consensus target is higher at $825.95. Thursday’s close was at $657.02.

Evergy Inc. (NYSE: EVRG): UBS’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $70 from $78. The consensus target is $73.89. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $65.25.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the ground and air delivery giant and has a $300 price target. The consensus target is $292.93. The $226.71 close on Thursday was down over 3% for the day.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the legacy technology heavyweight after a positive meeting with management. The analyst has a $20 target price, which compares with the $17.23 consensus target and Thursday’s final print of $13.26.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN): Wedbush downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral with a $14 target price. The consensus target is up at $16.16. The shares closed on Thursday at $12.03.

Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX): Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $19 price target. The consensus target is higher at $26.20. The shares closed on Thursday at $14.63.

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX): Baird lowered its $142 price target to $133 while sticking with a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $133.20, and the stock ended Thursday at $113.87.
RH (NYSE: RH): Though Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating, it slashed its $375 price target to $285. The consensus target is up at $379.27 for now. Thursday’s closing share price was $212.26, down almost 11% on the day after the company cut its full-year revenue outlook.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): Baird reiterated a Buy rating after a huge 10-for-1 split, and it has a $51 price target. The consensus is set higher at $85.06. The stock closed Thursday at $31.24, down almost 6% for the day.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG): Jefferies downgraded the real estate giant to Hold from Buy and has a $100 target price. The consensus target is up at $147.47. Thursday’s last trade at $94.92 was down over 2% on the day.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the electric vehicle pioneer, noting that “Tesla’s Supercharger network is the largest DC fast charging network in the US and one of the largest globally, with about 35K connectors globally and about 14K in the US (per the US Department of Energy).” The firm’s $1,000 price target which compares with the $894.47 consensus target and Thursday’s final print of $673.42.

Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR): Jefferies upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and bumped up the price target by a dollar to $59. The consensus target is $63.05. The stock closed on Thursday at $51.43.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD): Benchmark started coverage of the entertainment giant with a Buy rating and a $26 target price. The consensus target is higher at $33.29. Thursday’s final print hit the tape at $13.42, up close to 2% on the day.

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Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, Azek, DraftKings, Goldman Sachs, Las Vegas Sands, Lyft, SunPower, Twitter, Unity Software, Weyerhaeuser and Wynn Resorts. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Advanced Micro Devices, AppLovin, Carvana, Duke Energy, Plug Power and more.

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