The futures were modestly higher on Thursday, after Wednesday’s big risk-on rally that saw all the major indexes close higher after two down days to start the week and kick off August trading. Friday’s nonfarm payroll reading for July will likely be a market mover, as Wall Street is looking for just 250,000 jobs to be added after the 372,000 print for June. The next big datapoint will be next week, when the consumer price index for July is released. Many are worried it could be in line with the scorching hot 9.1% June figure.

Treasury yields were basically flat across the curve, after a big move higher Tuesday, as several Federal Reserve governors tapped the brakes on more accommodative Fed policy toward interest rates and inflation. Wall Street is split between whether the rate increase in September will be 50 or 75 basis points.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed down almost 4% after the Energy Information Administration reported a large inventory build. Prices had jumped early in the day because OPEC agreed to boost production in September, but only by 100,000 barrels. That changes nothing in the big picture. Natural gas was up a strong 7% on the day, while gold and Bitcoin closed higher, with the cryptocurrency back over the $23,000 level, up just shy of 2% on the day.

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, August 4, 2022.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the chip giant and raised its $99 target price to $112. The consensus target is higher at $128.11. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $98.09.

Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AINV): Wells Fargo upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight and has a $13.50 price target. The consensus target is $12.92. The stock closed over 5% higher on Wednesday at $12.97.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX): Goldman Sachs dropped its $70 price objective to $60 and kept a Sell rating. The consensus target is $73.62. The stock closed on Wednesday at $58.18.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the gaming and casino giant and has an $80 price target. The consensus target is $82.43. Wednesday’s close was at $49.26.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH): Because it just “crushed earnings,” Zacks has selected this specialty retail stock as its Bull of the Day. Shares closed over 12% higher on Wednesday at $29.84. The $33.13 consensus price target suggests they still have some room to run.
Clearwater Paper Corp. (NYSE: CLW): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and boosted the $40 target price to $45. The consensus target is $40. The final trade on Wednesday was reported at $41.51, up over 19% despite missing earnings expectations.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC (NASDAQ: CCEP): UBS raised its Neutral rating to Buy and changed its $62 target price to $68. The consensus target is $70.33. Shares closed on Wednesday at $54.29.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: EGLE): Alliance Global Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 target. The consensus target is $73.33. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Wednesday at $50.55.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares of the video game giant and has a $160 target price objective. The consensus target is $152.35. The stock closed Wednesday at $133.28, up almost 4% on the day.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS): Baird lowered its price target to $75 from $90 while maintaining an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $81.19. Wednesday’s last trade was recorded at $47.59.

First Commonwealth Financial Corp. (NYSE: FCF): Stephens downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $15.50 price target. The consensus target is $17.21. The shares closed at $14.65 on Wednesday.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the biotech giant and has a $63 price target. The consensus target is $69.48. On Wednesday, shares close almost 5% higher at $62.27 after it posted solid forward guidance.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Zacks named this tech giant as its Bear of the Day, citing that, despite the recent market rally, shares are trading near five-year lows. They closed most recently at $36.52, well off the 52-week high of $56.28 seen early in the year.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $10 target price. The consensus target is $10.88. Some very positive analyst commentary on Wednesday had shares closing almost 7% higher to $8.59.

Kymera Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: KYMR): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is up at $60.23. The last trade for Wednesday was posted at $26.68, up over 17% for the day, likely due to the research initiation.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA): Goldman Sachs increased its $158 target price to $174 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $161.20. The last trade for Wednesday came in at $156.23.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the lodging giant but raised the $178 price target to $183. The consensus target is $171.94. The stock closed on Wednesday at $159.34.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Truist Financial downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. It also slashed its $145 price target all the way to $68, much lower than the consensus target of $107.57 (for now). Wednesday’s closing print of $63.24 was down a stunning 17% after the company posted a second-quarter loss.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP): Stifel raised its $75  price target to $77 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing strong free-cash-flow generation. The consensus target is even higher at $82.44. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Wednesday at $73.22.
Olaplex Inc. (NASDAQ: OLPX): Barclays downgraded the shares from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $16 target price. The consensus target is $24.09. The stock was last seen Wednesday at $16.79, down close to 5% for the day.

Paycom Software Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYC): Oppenheimer raised the $350 price target to $375 and maintained an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $371.89. Wednesday’s close was at $352.33, up over 4% after the company beat earnings estimates.

Reinsurance Group of America Inc. (NYSE: RGA): Barclays initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and has a $120 target price. The consensus target is up at $133.91. The final trade for Wednesday was filled at $115.74.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $400 target price The consensus target is just $348.04. Wednesday’s last trade was reported at $295.52, down 19% after worse-than-expected second-quarter results.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating on the ubiquitous coffee retailer and nudged the $83 target price up to $86. The consensus target is $94.21. The stock closed Wednesday at $87.27, up over 4% after reporting a mixed bag of earnings results.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER): Oppenheimer maintained the ride-sharing leader at Outperform with a $42 target price objective. That compares with a $47.71 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $30.19 after a 3% gain for the day. Earlier this week, the company hit earnings targets and announced a $2 billion share buyback.

W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE: WRB): Argus started coverage with a Buy rating and a $72 price target. The consensus target is $76.73. The stock closed at $62.14 on Wednesday.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bluebird Bio, Caterpillar, Chesapeake Energy, Comstock Resources, Ford, Mosaic, On Semiconductor, Phillips 66, Plug Power, Ross Stores, Teva Pharmaceuticals, TJX Companies and Uber Technologies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on CF Industries, Cognex, Incyte, PayPal, XPeng, Xylem and more.

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