The futures are trading higher as we get ready to wrap up a wild trading week that saw the major indices trade back to levels not seen since early June. Once again like Wednesday, all of the major indices closed higher Thursday with the Standard & Poor’s 500 leading the way up 1.1% on the day. Numerous reasons were given for the big two-day move higher, including mostly positive earnings results (especially from big tech), a hint from Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell that interest rate hikes could slow after September, and the Senate passed a long-awaited $280 billion bill, which included $52 billion for semiconductor manufacturing to help the U.S. regain a domestic foothold on chip production and to fight Chinese competition.
Despite the Fed raising interest rates another 75 basis points on Wednesday, the stock market has likely also cheered Treasury rates across the yield curve coming down this week as only the benchmark 30-year long bond is trading above 3%, as yields on the five- and 10-year notes have plummeted. The inversion of the two- and the 10-year securities (which remains in place) indeed proved to be a sign of recession as the preliminary second-quarter gross domestic product came in at -0.9%, marking two consecutive quarters of decline.
Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate oil traded flat on Thursday while natural gas, which had been absolutely on fire this week, closed down 5%. Gold, which has had a very rough summer so far, closed higher. Bitcoin posted nearly a 4% gain on Thursday.
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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 across Wall Street on Friday July 29, 2022.
Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN | ALGN Price Prediction) Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Buy and slashed the price target to $250 from $380. The consensus target across Wall Street is $411.64. The shares closed up over 6% Thursday at $282.25.
Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP) Piper Sandler downgraded the real estate leader to Neutral from Overweight and cut the price target to $100 from $120. The consensus across Wall Street is set at $112.83. The stock closed Thursday’s trading at $90.08.
Centene Inc. (NYSE: CNC) Barclays resumed coverage of the managed-care company with an Overweight rating and a $107 target price. The consensus price objective is $102.95. The last trade Thursday was filled at $92.35.
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Cognizant Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTSH) JPMorgan downgraded the information technology services and consulting company to Neutral from Overweight while also lowering the target price for the stock to $77 from $82. The consensus is set at $82.62. The final trade for Thursday was filled at $66.83 down almost 5%.
Coursera, Inc. (NASDAQ: COUR) Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock of the open online course provider to Neutral from Buy and chopped the target price to $14 from $23. The consensus target is set at $30.07 for now. The shares closed Thursday at $13.55 down a stunning 17% after posting disappointing earnings and guidance.
Doximity, Inc. (NYSE: DOCS) Berenberg initiated coverage of the online networking service for medical professionals with a Buy rating and a $49 target price objective. The consensus is $47.46. The shares closed Thursday at $41.62.
Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised the price target to $281 from $174. That is versus a lower $253.02 consensus price objective and Thursday’s closing trade of $274.18, which was up almost 8%. The solar giant’s European sales have climbed a stunning 69%.
Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) Oppenheimer upgraded the data-center company’s stock to Outperform from Perform and has a $750 target price. The consensus target is posted higher at $812.65. The last trade Thursday was filled at $711.31 up over 9%.
Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) MKM Partners initiated coverage with a Neutral rating to go with a $115 target. The consensus for the popular millennial retailer is set much higher at $172.72. The stock was last seen Thursday at $125.99 up 6%.
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Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) Argus upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold with a $15 target price. The consensus is set higher just lower at $14.94. The shares were last seen Thursday at $13.04.
Incyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: INCY) Wells Fargo initiated coverage of the pharmaceutical company with an Equal Weight rating and has a $76 target price. The consensus is posted at $92.93. The final trade on Thursday was posted at $78.82.
Netgear, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) BWS Financial upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $30 target price. The consensus is posted at $24.38. The stock closed Thursday at $24.87 up 22% after reporting better-than-expected results.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) Macquarie downgraded the broadcasting giant to Neutral from Outperform with a $21.10 target. The consensus across Wall Street is set at $27.55. The stock closed Thursday at $17.10.
Opendoor Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) JPMorgan started coverage of the online company that buys and sells residential real estate with an Overweight rating and a $9 target price. The consensus is set higher at $12.25. The stock closed Thursday at $5.04.
Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $367 target price. The consensus for the REIT giant is $365.82. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $337.10 up over 3%.
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Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the provider of stock photography with an Equal Weight rating and has a $54 price objective. The consensus is much higher at $82.25. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $58.54.
Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE: SNN) Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock of the medical equipment company to Hold from Buy and lowered their price target to $32 from $40. The consensus target is $38.47. The shares were last seen Thursday at $26.46 down almost 10% on no news that we could find.
The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) Gordon Haskett downgraded the off-price retailer to Hold from Buy and dropped their target price to $60 from $67. The consensus target is posted at $75.30. The shares were last seen Thursday at $61.19.
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) Scotiabank upgraded the telecom to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform and raised their target price to $167 from $153. The consensus for the stock is set higher at $169.13. The stock closed Thursday’s session at $141.70.
Wayfair, Inc. (NYSE: W) MKM Partners started coverage on the e-commerce furniture seller with a Neutral rating and has a $50 price target. The consensus target on Wall Street is posted at $88.64. The shares closed Thursday’s session at $52.61 up over 5%.
Here are Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.
They included Alphabet, Autodesk, Biogen, Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonald’s, PulteGroup, Schlumberger, Stryker, Veeva Systems and more.
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