The futures were lower Tuesday, after a rousing risk-off rally to start the trading week fell apart by midday and the major indexes closed mostly lower. The Dow Jones industrials and the Russell 2000 each scratched out a small gain. With the consumer price index report for July on deck, you can bet that there could be a big move in either direction, depending on the results. The Democrats passed the $700 billion scaled-back tax-and-spend package over the weekend, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, as not one Republican supported more spending in a time of severe inflation and, by definition, recession.

Yields across the Treasury curve were lower, after a huge run-up on Friday after the massive job report print. The five-year, 10-year and 30-year maturity yields were all six basis points and higher on the day, with the 30-year benchmark bond closing right at the 3% level.

After a week of selling, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were higher on Monday, though both remain well below the $100 level. All the gains from the beginning of the war in Ukraine are gone. Natural gas finished the day down over 5%, while gold and Bitcoin closed higher.

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 on Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: LNT): BofA Securities increased its $61 target price on the Neutral-rated stock to $62. The consensus target is $63.67. The stock closed on Monday at $61.05.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and a $125 target after the company postponed eliminating cookies from chrome until late 2024. The consensus target for the tech and search behemoth is up at $147.51. Monday’s closing share price was $117.30.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the technology giant after it announced its intention to purchase the Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot. The analyst maintained a $150 price target, which compares with the higher consensus of $173.64, as well as Monday’s last print of $139.41.

Americold Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: COLD): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to Sector Perform from Outperform and has a $34 target price. The consensus target is $33.20. The last trade for Monday was reported at $31.18.
Azek Co. (NYSE: AZEK): Wedbush downgraded the shares from Outperform to Neutral with a $21 price target. The consensus target is $27.44. The stock ended Monday’s session down over 3% at $20.79.

Ball Corp. (NASDAQ: BALL): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut to $58 from $80. The consensus target is $83.94. Monday’s close at $56.98 was up almost 2% on the day after the company missed earnings expectations last week and was hit hard.

CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCCS): Piper Sandler started coverage with a Neutral rating and an $11 target. The consensus target is $12.43. The stock closed down 3% on Monday at $9.69.

Chord Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHRD): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $150 price target objective. That compares with a $188.83 consensus target and Monday’s final trade of $125.96.

Corteva Inc. (NYSE: CTVA): Roth Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and boosted the price target to $74 from $67. J.P. Morgan upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight and lifted its $58 target to $63. The consensus target is $62.90. The last trade on Monday was filled at $59.09.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Oppenheimer nudged its $24 target price on the popular fantasy gaming and online casino stock to $25 while keeping an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $25.57. The stock closed on Monday at $18.43.

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DNB): BofA Securities raised the $17 target price to $18 while keeping a Neutral rating on the shares. The consensus target is $19.27. The stock closed on Monday at $16.12.

Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GBT): Canaccord Genuity raised its target price in a big way to $72 from $40, while Jefferies reiterated a Buy with a $68 target. Those compare with the $59.53 consensus target and Monday’s close at $66.60, which was up over 4% for the day.

Green Brick Partners Inc. (NYSE: GRBK): Wedbush lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform and has a $26 target. The consensus target is $26.33. The stock was last seen Monday trading at $27.89.

Henry Schein Inc. (NASDAQ: HSIC): UBS upgraded the shares to Neutral from Sell and has a $80 price objective. The consensus target is $84.36. The stock closed on Monday at $76.34.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the popular yoga and athletic apparel retailer with a strong $430 target. The consensus target is just $379.69. The stock finished Monday’s session trading at $316.24.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: RYTM): The Goldman Sachs upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a $28 target price. The consensus target is $25.33. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Monday at $21.13.

Stericycle Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL): Baird maintained an Outperform rating and has a $65 target price. The consensus target is $66.75. The stock closed Monday at $52.40, which was close to a 4% gain on the day.

TPI Composites Inc. (NASDAQ: TPIC): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight with a $27 target price. The consensus target is just $17.04. The shares closed Monday at $21.38, up almost 14% on the day, as analysts feel the company will benefit from the new legislation passed last weekend.

Trimble Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMB): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and a $86 target price. The consensus target is $84.43. Monday’s close was at $68.24 a share.

Vizio Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: VZIO): BofA Securities cut its price target on the electronics and smart TV maker to $15 from $17 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $15.85. The stock ended Monday at $10.64.

Western Digital Inc. (NASDAQ: WDC): Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the disk drive giant, but the firm slashed the $75 target price to $55, citing PC and consumer weakness and additional weakness in Europe and China. The stock closed at $47.58 on Monday.

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The bear market rally has been a nice reprieve, but now is the time for investors to move to stocks that perform well during periods of stagflation. Seven top stocks are in the sectors that historically outperform during such periods and come with solid dividends.

Three fresh picks from J.P. Morgan have up to 40% upside potential.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ball, Carvana, Comcast, Constellation Energy, Doximity, EOG Resources, Fisker, Ingersoll Rand, Monster Beverage, Omega Healthcare Investors, Paramount Global, Physicians Realty Trust, Playtika, Twilio, Twitter, Virgin Galactic and Warner Bros. Discovery. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Coinbase Global, Global Blood Therapeutics, Grab, Leslie’s, Nektar Therapeutics, Park Hotels & Resorts, Rocket Companies, Roku and more.

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