Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Costco, Dish Network, Fortinet, Levi Strauss, Match, RingCentral, Robinhood, Yum Brands and More

Investing

Published: August 5, 2022 8:56 am

Last Updated: August 5, 2022 9:09 am

The futures were lower Friday after the nonfarm payroll numbers of 528,000 came in way above the lowered expectations. The major indexes closed mixed on Thursday, after digesting the massive rally on Wednesday, with only the Nasdaq closing higher. While second-quarter earnings continue to pour in with mixed results, many across Wall Street have pointed to the bellicose (and belligerent) actions from China following Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a reason for continued investor nervousness.

Claims for unemployment came in Thursday at 260,000 and are holding near nine-month highs, stirring the recession pot. One positive note is that mortgage rates dropped below 5% for the first time since April, which could help, as the once white-hot housing market is cooling off rapidly.

One reason for the lower mortgage rates is the continued drop in yields across the Treasury curve. All the major maturities saw flat or lower yields again on Thursday, as institutional and worried investors continue to load up on the safe-haven government debt. One bright spot for beleaguered consumers was that both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on Thursday. The latter closed below $90 for the first time since the Russia-Ukraine war started back in February. Gold had a solid day, up 1.3%, while Bitcoin closed flat.

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 Friday, August 5, 2022.

America Movil SAB de C.V. (NYSE: AMX): Citigroup upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $23 target price. The consensus target is $22.11. The stock closed on Thursday at $18.34.

Autohome Inc. (NYSE: ATHM): BofA Securities raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and hiked the $31 target price to $42. The consensus target is $37.35. The shares closed almost 3% lower on Thursday at $38.62.

Ball Corp. (NASDAQ: BALL): Truist Financial downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and has a $93 price objective, while the consensus target is $83.94. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $59.29, which was down almost 19% after the company missed earnings expectations.