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.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP): SMBC Nikko downgraded the real estate leader to Neutral from Outperform and has a price target set at $93. The consensus target is $109.39. Thursday’s close was at $86.66.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL): Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and chopped the $350 target price to $250. The consensus target is $304.09. The stock closed on Thursday at $227.64, up almost 3% for the day.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN): MKM Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $62 price target. The consensus target is $67.42. The last trade to hit the tape Thursday was at $52.49 a share.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST): Goldman Sachs raised its $516 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $573. The consensus target is $562.89. Shares closed at $543.28 on Thursday.

Dana Inc. (NYSE: DAN): Deutsche Bank’s downgrade was to Hold from Buy, and it cut the $18 price target to $15. The consensus target is $17.00. The stock closed on Thursday at $15.96.

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH): Pivotal Research Group reiterated a Buy rating and trimmed the $40 price objective to $36. The consensus target is $39.56. Thursday’s $19.16 close was up over 5% on the day after the company posted solid second-quarter results.

Duluth Trading Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTH): Baird’s downgrade to Neutral from Outperform included a target price cut to $11 from $18. The consensus target is $16.00. The stock was last seen on Thursday trading at $9.66.

Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EDR): BofA Securities began covering the stock with a Buy rating and a $28 price target. The consensus target is $32. The stock closed on Thursday at $23.66.

Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN): MKM Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $135 target. The consensus target is $140.25. The shares closed at $115.72 on Thursday.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and has an $80 target price. The consensus target is $71.70. The stock was clobbered Thursday, closing down almost 17% despite posting very solid results.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock and bumped the $64 target price to $67. That compares with a $78.83 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $51.66.

Hub Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised the target price to $119 from $110. The consensus target is $94.07. Thursday’s close at $79.80 was up just shy of 5% for the day after both earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates.

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN): MKM Partners resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 target. The consensus target is $8.60. The stock closed on Thursday at $5.09.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI): Morgan Stanley downgraded the venerable blue jeans and clothing giant from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $19 target price. The consensus target is $25.65. The stock closed at $19.36 on Thursday.

Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Oppenheimer kept an Outperform rating on the shares but dropped the $100 price target all the way to $78. The consensus target is $96.50, and Thursday’s closing print of $66.50 was up 5% on the day, after the company posted a second-quarter loss and was hammered on Wednesday to the tune of 17%.
Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a target price cut to $150 from $345. The consensus target (for now) is $327.33. The stock closed Thursday at $148.05, down close to 14% after earnings topped the estimate, but forward guidance was lowered.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO): Cowen reiterated a Market Perform rating and lowered the price target to $100 from $108. The consensus target is $133.81. The shares closed most recently at $108.61.

Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): Wedbush lowered its Outperform rating to Neutral and cut the $59 price target to $23. The consensus target is $49.17 for now. Thursday’s close at $26.68 was down almost 14% for the day. While earnings were solid, forward guidance regarding revenue growth was not.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): MKM Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and an $80 target price. The consensus target is $99.75. Thursday’s close was at $49.00, down close to 8% for the day on no news except the company cutting staff.

Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD): Goldman Sachs raised its $9.50 price target to $11 while maintaining a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $11.35. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Thursday at $10.88.

Silvergate Capital Corp. (NYSE: SI): BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $135 price objective. The consensus target is $132.90. Thursday’s final trade was reported at $102.68, which was up almost 7% after positive news across the cryptocurrency industry.

Warrior Met Coal Inc. (NYSE: HCC): When BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform, it lowered the $45 target price to $37. The consensus target is $42.07. Thursday’s $28.50 close was down almost 10%, despite earnings and revenues that surpassed estimates.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the restaurant giant and has a $146 target price. The consensus target is $134.72. The shares closed most recently at $120.02.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Baxter International, Caesars Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Exact Sciences, Gilead Sciences, Intel, JetBlue Airways, Marriott International, Match Group, Microchip Technology, Starbucks and Uber Technologies.

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