The futures were higher, as we prepare to start another week of late summer trading, which as usual in August will continue to slow to a crawl as we get closer to Labor Day. The major indexes closed mostly lower on Friday despite the massive July jobs report, in which some 528,000 jobs were added, clobbering expectations for 250,000. While it seems counterintuitive when adding jobs seems positive for the economy, the reality is that any chance that the Federal Reserve will take its foot off the interest rate pedal was squashed Friday by the strength of the report.
All eyes this week will be on the July consumer price index report, which comes out before Wednesday’s opening bell. Should it come in hot like June’s numbers, the rate hike chatter could move from the current 50 to 75 basis points range to a full percentage point for the September hike.
Yields across the Treasury curve shot higher on the jobs numbers, with the five-year note up a stunning 20 basis points, after two weeks of heavy Treasury buying. As mentioned, red-hot inflation numbers this week again will just enforce the hawkish Fed narrative.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed flat Friday, after giving up some solid early gains. Analysts cited demand destruction due to recession fears, as oil prices have fallen back to where they were before the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Natural gas closed just under the $8 mark, while gold ended lower and Bitcoin was up over 1%.
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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 Monday, August 8, 2022.
Allegheny Technology Inc. (NYSE: ATI | ATI Price Prediction): Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $33 target. The consensus target is $33.43. Friday’s close at $29.02 was up almost 6% for the day after second-quarter results came in above estimates.
Ball Corp. (NASDAQ: BALL): Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and cut the $81 price objective to $65. The consensus target is $83.94. Friday’s was at $56.36, down almost 5% on the day, after the company missed earnings expectations last week.
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Carvana Inc. (NYSE: CVNA): RBC Capital Markets reiterated a Sector Perform rating but chopped the $85 target price to $35. The consensus target is $65.75. The shares closed up a stunning 40% on Friday to $46.98. The company posted results that missed expectations, but it laid out cost-cutting plans that went over big with Wall Street. Note that the stock also has a big short interest number.
Cavco Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: CVCO): Wedbush’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a target price hike to $385 from $315. The consensus target is $339. The stock closed over 7% higher on Friday at $274.30 after smashing earnings estimates.
Clearwater Paper Corp. (NYSE: CLW): Zacks selected this as its Bull of the Day. The analyst suggests that only stocks that are in extremely powerful uptrends are able to make this type of price move while the market is in a correction. Shares last closed at $43.22, after rising about 38% in the past 90 days. The S&P 500 is up only fractionally in that time.
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA): Redburn downgraded the media and cable giant to Neutral from Buy. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $36.57 and $61.80 a share, and it has a $48.38 consensus price objective. The shares closed on Friday at $38.27.
Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CEG): UBS raised its Hold rating to Buy and boosted the $54 target price to $97. The consensus target is $68.27. The shares closed over 10% higher on Friday at $74.30.
Doximity Inc. (NYSE: DOCS): BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Underperform to Neutral and cut the $43 price target to $29. The consensus target is up at $47.46. The shares closed on Friday at $41.6
EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): TD Securities upgraded the energy giant from Hold to Buy with a $135 target price. The consensus target is $145.02. The last trade on Friday came in at $107.01, up over 7% on the day after posting solid results.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the target price in a big way to $126 from $83. Guggenheim raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $135 target. The consensus target is $99.47. The shares closed on Friday at $101.90. The stock was up over 6% in premarket action.
Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR): Morgan Stanley downgraded the electric vehicle maker’s shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $10 target price. The consensus target is up at $17.44. The stock closed on Friday at $10.17.
Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXF): Stifel’s upgrade to Buy from Hold included a price target boost to $115 from $88. The consensus target is $120.50. The stock closed up over 12% Friday at $106.05, after earnings and revenue for the quarter beat estimates.
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Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR): Deutsche Bank cut its Buy rating to Hold but nudged the price target up to $52 from $50. The consensus target is $51.07. The stock closed on Friday at $49.79.
Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI): Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock, pointing out that the odds are stacked against this device maker. The stock has traded as high as $109.67 in the past year but closed most recently at $58.31, which is down almost 30% year to date.
Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST): RBC Capital Markets reiterated an Outperform rating but trimmed its $100 price objective to $98. That compares with a $102.72 consensus target and Friday’s close at $91.38, which was down over 5% after earnings missed estimates while sales beat expectations.
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and lifted the $27 target price to $35. The consensus target is $30.93. The shares ended trading on Friday at $31.99, up 2% for the day.
Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA): J.P. Morgan downgraded the shares from Neutral to Underweight with a $25 target. The consensus target is $31.32 for now. The last trade Friday was recorded at $24.26, which was down over 4% for the day on no news other than the downgrade.
Physicians Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DOC): Colliers Securities cut its Buy rating to Neutral with a $19 target price. The consensus target is $19.07. The stock ended Friday’s session at $17.24.
Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PLTK): MKM Partners downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and lowered the $17 price target to $13.50. The consensus target is $20.59. The stock closed 3% lower on Friday at $11.77.
Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO): When Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it slashed its $200 target price in half to $90. The consensus target is $178.41 for now. The last trade for Friday came in at $84.92, down close to 14% on the day. Solid earnings were overshadowed after the company reported miserable third-quarter guidance.
Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Susquehanna downgraded the stock to Neutral from Positive. It also dropped its $50 price objective to $45. The consensus target is $43.05. The stock had a solid session Friday, closing up almost 4% at $42.52.
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPCE): Truist Financial’s downgrade to Sell from Hold included a target price cut to $5 from $8. The consensus target is $9.05. The shares closed Friday at $6.76, down almost 18% after the company pushed back the start date for its first commercial space flights.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD): Wells Fargo slashed its target price in half, to $19 from $42. The consensus target is at $$29.25 for now. The shares closed Friday at $14.59, down a sharp 17% after the company posted a stunning $3.42 billion loss.
Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Wedbush downgraded the online real estate site to Neutral from Outperform and trimmed the $41 target price to $39. The consensus target is $46.42. The shares down 2% on Friday at $37.37.
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Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included America Movil, Ball, Ciena, Costco Wholesale, Dish Network, Fortinet, Infinera, Levi Strauss, Match, RingCentral, Robinhood Markets and Yum! Brands. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Acadia Pharmaceuticals, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Duke Energy, Kellogg, Paramount Global, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and more.
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