The futures were modestly higher after a very back and forth day on Wall Street following Monday’s massive risk-off selling, which was the worst day for the markets since June 16. The major indexes all closed lower on Tuesday, with only the Russell 2000 eking out a small gain. All eyes remain focused on Friday and Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s speech at the economic symposium in Jackson Hole. While it is unlikely that he will detail the size of the rate hike for September, as more data will emerge early in September, a hawkish tone to the speech could open up the markets to increased selling.

Many top strategists feel the summer rally was driven by extreme short-covering and depressed stock positioning and may be coming to end as those two components have likely been fully played out. Toss in the “fall seasonality effect” (September and October are notoriously weak), and the corporate buyback window closing in three weeks, and we could be in for a return to the June lows.

Yields were slightly higher across the Treasury curve Tuesday, as buyers swooped in early, but some selling returned as the trading day wore on. The dreaded two-year and 10-year note inversion is stubbornly still in place with the former closing at 3.31% and the latter at 3.05%. While the spread has narrowed, the inversion hints at recession, which technically we already are in.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed almost 4% higher after the Saudi oil minister noted that OPEC may be looking at production cuts after a flood of Russian oil has kept pressure on prices all summer. Natural gas jumped up to the $10 level for the first time since 2008, before closing at $9.23, down almost 5% as profit taking clearly was in effect. Both gold and Bitcoin also closed higher 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 Wednesday, August 24, 2022.

Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AERI): Stifel downgraded the shares to Hold with a $15 target after the company was acquired by Alcon for $770 million. The consensus target is $18.89. The shares closed Tuesday at $15.36, up 36% on the deal announcement.

Afya Ltd. (NASDAQ: AFYA): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating and a $12 target price on the shares. The consensus target is higher at $16.61. The stock closed over 2% higher on Tuesday at $12.70.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): Macquarie started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $188 target price. The consensus target is $199.25. Tuesday’s close at $134.07 was up 2% for the day.
BellRing Brands Inc. (NYSE: BRBR): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $35 target price. The consensus target is $32.54. Tuesday’s close at $24.80 was down over 2% on the day.

Bill.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BILL): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and has a $180 price target. The consensus target is higher at $213.11. The shares ended Tuesday’s session at $163.90. Last Friday, the company posted outstanding quarterly results.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc (NYSE: BJ): Citing ongoing pandemic momentum, Zacks selected this wholesale club operator as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $72.22, and the $82.31 consensus target would be a 52-week high.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL): Zacks named this stock as its Bear of the Day. The analyst points out that not all discount retailers have hit the mark over the past few quarters. Shares have traded as high as $351.50 in the past year but closed most recently at $158.80. That is down more than 45% year to date.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating on the cybersecurity giant and has a $275 target price. The consensus target is lower at $239.97. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $192.36, a gain of close to 4% on the day.

Hub Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating with a $92 target after the company acquired TAGG Logistics. The consensus target is $96.67. The stock closed on Tuesday at $83.91.

Inhibrx Inc. (NASDAQ: INBX): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and has a $45 price target. The consensus target is $46.17. The shares closed almost 3% higher on Tuesday at $19.35.

Iris Energy Ltd. (NASDAQ: IREN): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating, but it chopped the $18 price target to $8. The consensus target is $17. The stock closed 3% higher on Tuesday at $5.27.

Nordson Corp. (NASDAQ: NDSN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $250 target. The consensus target is $266. Tuesday’s last trade was at $239.17 a share.

Ocugen Inc. (NASDAQ: OCGN): Mizuho started coverage with a Buy rating and a $5 target price. The consensus target is up at $7.40. The shares ended Tuesday at $2.56, up almost 10%, likely on the Mizuho initiation.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Goldman Sachs raised its $675 price target on the Buy-rated stock to $720. For now, the consensus target is lower at $631.23. Tuesday’s closing trade of $569.51 was up over 12% after the company posted solid results and announced a three-for-one stock split.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and sees the company as a great second-half idea. The analyst’s $120 price objective is less than the $121.65 consensus and compares with Tuesday’s closing share price of $93.20.
Pharvis N.V. (NASDAQ: PHVS): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock and slashed the $40 price target to $10. The consensus target is $27 for now. The stock closed Tuesday at $10.99, down another 10% on the day, after a big sell-off on Monday following the FDA putting holds on two clinical studies.

Playtika Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PLTK): BofA Securities resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $9 target. The consensus target is higher at $18.92. Tuesday’s close at $10.31 was down over 4% for the day.

Procore Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PCOR): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $75 target price. The consensus target is $73.30. The shares closed at $56.04 on Tuesday.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, which is on the firm’s Conviction List of top ideas. The firm’s $46 target price is less than the consensus target. which is around $50. The stock closed on Tuesday at $39.36, up almost 7% for the day on the energy complex strength.

Weatherford International PLC (NASDAQ: WFRD): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating while raising estimates for the company. Its $30 price target compares with a much higher $44.33 consensus target and Tuesday’s last trade of $26.56, which was up almost 6% on energy strength.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $190 price target. The consensus target is up at $219.21. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $157.66.

Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM): Goldman Sachs lowered its $142 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $122. The consensus target is $150.66 for now. The stock was hammered Tuesday, down over 16% to $81.32, after the company lowered guidance, which some think is still too optimistic.

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Oil prices tumbled during the summer and could be poised for a big rebound. Plus, Warren Buffett has been focused on energy stocks lately. Seven top energy picks may be just the ticket for investors ahead of the dangerous months of September and October.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Boeing, Boston Scientific, ChargePoint, Deere, Foot Locker, Horizon Therapeutics, Nu, Ross Stores, Salesforce, United Parcel Service, VF, Vipshop and Walmart. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Grocery Outlet, Infosys, iQIYI, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, Zoom Video Communications and more.

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