The futures were higher on the last trading day of August, after another risk-off day Tuesday in which all the major indexes closed down. Some serious damage may have occurred technically, with the S&P 500 closing below the 50-day moving average. The song remains the same, as rising interest rate increases, pushback from the Federal Reserve leaders on any policy pivot, the ramp-up in quantitative tightening (QT) (which will increase to $95 billion per month in September) and a worsening overall economic picture all contributed to renewed selling. Unless the inflation picture drastically improves, investors can count on a 75-basis-point increase late next month.

Yields were flat across the Treasury curve Tuesday, as attention turned to the two-year note, which traded near 3.50% before closing at a 3.46%, the highest since 2007. The inversion remains in place with the 10-year note closing at 3.11%. This inversion is often a harbinger of recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude gave up Monday’s big gains and more, as both closed down well over 4%. Economic slowdown fears once again seem to be the major reason for the selling. With two months left in the hurricane season, any big activity in the Gulf could see prices rise fast. Natural gas closed lower as well, despite Gazprom slashing deliveries to a French utility giant. Gold ended slightly lower, while Bitcoin was down almost 2% to close below $20,000 again.

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 31, 2022.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Sell rating on the shares and has a $20 target price. The consensus target is $21.43. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $24.08, which was up close to 12% on the day despite missing on earnings estimates.

Bowlero Corp. (NYSE: BOWL): J.P. Morgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $17 target price. The consensus target for the stock is $15.25. The shares closed up almost 5% on Tuesday at $11.66 on the upgrade.

Catalent Inc. (NASDAQ: CTLT): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock while lowering the $142 price objective to $123. The consensus target is $129.38. Tuesday’s close at $89.28 was down over 3% for the day.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS): Roth Capital started coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is $13.50. The stock closed on Tuesday at $7.05, down close to 10% for the day on now reported news we could find.

Enhabit Inc. (NASDAQ: EHAB): Jefferies started coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is $17.50. The initiation boosted the stock on Tuesday, which closed over 6% higher on the day at $15.98.

European Wax Center Inc. (NASDAQ: EWCZ): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $22 target price. The consensus target is higher at $32.86, and the stock closed at $20.62 on Tuesday.

Everbridge Inc. (NASDAQ: EVBG): Truist Financial maintained a Hold rating, but the firm lifted its target price to $31 from $38. The consensus target is $37. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $41.00 a share.

FiscalNote Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NOTE): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $14 target. The posted consensus target is $11.75. The stock closed on Tuesday at $7.46, which was a sharp 24% decline on no reported negative news.

FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy on the shares and has a $19 target price. The consensus target is $17.75. Tuesday’s $13.73 close was up over 8% for the day. The stock was up big last week after the company announced a new partnership agreement.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE HPE): Goldman Sachs maintained a Sell rating on the legacy technology giant. Its $12 target price compares with a $17.17 consensus figure. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $13.65 apiece.

L3 Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX): RBC Capital Markets started coverage of the aerospace and defense giant with an Outperform rating and a $285 target. Shares have traded as high as $279.71 in the past year and closed on Tuesday at $231.24.

Leidos Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LDOS): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $106 target price. The consensus target is higher at $117, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $95.81.

MakeMyTrip Ltd. (NASDAQ: MMYT): BofA Securities raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and lifted $33 the target price to $40. The consensus target is $37.00, and the stock was last seen Tuesday at $33.39 per share.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): Citing an outlook that has turned a lot worse, Zacks has selected this as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $384.33 in the past year but last closed at $157.16, which is down more than 53% year to date.

Napco Security Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: NSSC): Needham reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and increased the $30 target price to $33. The consensus target is $30.70, and Tuesday’s $29.61 close was up 4% after solid fiscal fourth-quarter results were posted.
Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and has an adjusted $65 target price after the recent three-for-one stock split. The consensus target is $66.28. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $59.60.

Pinduoduo Inc. (NYSE: PDD): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating, and it raised its $77 target price to $89. The consensus target is $78.89. The shares closed on Tuesday at $66.50. The company posted a strong 36% revenue rise for the most recent quarter on Monday.

Sony Group Corp. (NYSE: SONY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $125 target price. The consensus target for the Japanese conglomerate is $136.93, and the stock closed Tuesday’s session at $80.74.

TransUnion Inc. (NYSE: TRU): BofA Securities maintained a Neutral rating and bumped the $89 price target up to $90. The consensus target is $92.50, and the last trade to hit the tape on Tuesday was at $75.70 per share.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA): Zacks named this products and services provider as the Bull of the Day stock. The analyst makes the case that shoppers continue to spend big on the simple pleasures in life such as beauty. Shares last closed at $416.79, and the consensus price target of $482.83 would be an all-time high.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $220 target price. That compares with the analysts’ consensus target of $203.52, as well as Tuesday’s closing print of $166.77.

Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR): Truist Financial started coverage with a Hold rating and a $10 target price. The consensus target was last seen at $13.10, and the stock closed at $9.87 a share on Tuesday.

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Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Antero Resources, Applied Materials, CrowdStrike, Frontier Group, General Dynamics, Lululemon Athletica, Peloton Interactive, Pinduoduo, S&P Global and Unity Software. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Cabaletta Bio, Gap, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Spire Global and more.

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