The futures were down big Thursday, after a wild rollercoaster trading day on Wednesday. The scorching hot consumer price index had the futures and then stocks dive into the open, before buyers stepped in later in the morning, but that effort faded by the close. One thing that seems highly likely after the massive CPI print is that the Federal Reserve’s 75-basis-point increase later this month is all but locked in. Some are betting on a full 1% increase in the federal funds rate.

While all the major indexes closed lower, we could be in for some additional tough sledding, as Friday is options expiration. That could bring some intense volatility, which has not treated stocks at expiration well over the past few years. Plus, the concern over second-quarter earnings results remains in place.

After spiking higher early, yields across the Treasury curve were mostly lower on Wednesday, with the dreaded two-year and 10-year note inversion still holding court. The two-year note closed at 3.15%, while the 10-year note closed at 2.90%

Oil, which was recently down 20% from highs posted in March, traded flat Wednesday, with Brent and West Texas Intermediate hovering right at the $100 mark. Natural gas posted a huge 7% gain, as it heads back toward the $7 level. Gold and Bitcoin each closed modestly higher.

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, July 14, 2022.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Susquehanna reiterated a Positive rating on the chip heavyweight but lowered the $140 price objective to $120. The consensus target is $133.126. The shares were last seen Wednesday at $77.52.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating while lowering the $3,200 price target to $3,000. The consensus target for the tech colossus is $3,047, and Wednesday’s close was at $2,243.74.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Telsey Advisory reiterated its Outperform rating on the technology giant while cutting the $170 price target to $145. The consensus target is $174.91. The last trade on Wednesday hit the tape at $110.40.

Armstrong World Industries Inc. (NYSE: AWI): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $93 price target. The consensus target is $102.70. The shares were last seen at $78.37.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC): MKM Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $96 target price. The consensus target is up at $106.31. The last trade Wednesday came in at $71.46.
Cardlytics Inc. (NASDAQ: CDLX): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform with a $14 target. The consensus target is $59.50 for now. The stock closed almost 8% lower on Wednesday at $14.44.

Celanese Inc. (NYSE: CE): RBC Capital Markets lowered its Outperform rating to Sector Perform and chopped the $200 price target almost in half to $116. The consensus target is $164.67. The final trade Wednesday came in at $108.21, which was down 3% on the day.

Commvault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $69 from $78. The consensus target is $75.67 for now. The shares closed Wednesday at $57.65, down almost 10% for the day on no news that we could source.

Dave & Busters Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY): Deutsche Bank downgraded the popular restaurant and video gaming stock to Hold from Buy and has a $37 target price. The consensus target is higher at $57.38. Wednesday’s close at $31.78 was almost 3% higher on the day.

Digital Ocean Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCN): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell from Buy included a target price cut to $40 from $54. The consensus target is $57.60 for now. The shares closed almost 4% lower on Wednesday at $37.11.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): Zacks named this homebuilder as its Bear of the Day stock and has the equivalent of a Strong Sell rating on the shares. They have traded as high as $110.45 apiece in the past year but closed most recently at $73.76. That is down about 32% year to date.

Ecolabs Inc. (NYSE: ECL): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the $193 price target objective to $183. The consensus target is $190.50. Wednesday’s closing share price was $155.61.

F5 Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut to $173 from $197. The consensus target is $214.47. Wednesday’s close was at $149.39.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): When Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it also chopped the $48 price target to $28. The consensus target for the mining giant is $44.33, and shares closed at $26.44 on Wednesday.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight and slashed its $350 price target to $150. The consensus target is $328.31. The stock closed Wednesday at $181.18, down close to 4% for the day.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Susquehanna maintained a Neutral rating on the legacy semiconductor company and reduced the $50 price target to $42. The consensus target is $50.27. Intel shares closed on Wednesday at $37.21.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the stock to Underperform from Market Perform and cut the price target to $30 from $38. The consensus target is $39.88. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $32.67, which down almost 3% on the day.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Though Susquehanna reiterated a Positive rating on the chip giant, it also lowered its $260 target price to $220. That compares with a $252.54 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $151.64.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): Canaccord Genuity started coverage of the electric vehicle car maker with a Buy rating and a $61 target price. The consensus target is $58.50. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $30.76 per share.

Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO): Citigroup downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral and slashed the $70 price target to $40. The consensus target is $63.47, and Wednesday’s closing price was $48.24 a share.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Canaccord Genuity resumed coverage of the eclectic vehicle heavyweight with a Buy rating and an $801 target price. The consensus target is higher at $893.46, and the stock was last seen on Wednesday trading at $711.12.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Rosenblatt upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, and it also raised its target price to $52 from $33. The consensus target was last seen at $46.42. The stock closed almost 8% higher on Wednesday at $36.90.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA): Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Underweight and has a $15 target. The consensus target for the stock is $19.60, and the final trade on Wednesday was filled at $10.31 per share.

Verra Mobility Corp. (NASDAQ: VRRM): Baird downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has an $18 target. The consensus target is $19.57. Wednesday’s close at $15.35 a share was down more than 4% for the day.

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It makes sense now for investors to look for stocks that do well in inflationary times and pay dependable dividends. Seven top energy, gold and real estate plays offer outstanding entry points and look like great inflation-proof ideas for the rest of 2022.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, Cisco Systems, HCA Healthcare, JetBlue Airways, Juniper Networks, Snowflake, Southwest Airlines, STORE Capital, Take-Two Interactive Software and Zoetis. Analyst calls seen later in the day included Bath & Body Works, BioNTech, Caesars, Freeport McMoRan, Gap, Hasbro, Synchrony Financial and more.

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