Investing

No Soft Landing in Sight: Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Bed Bath & Beyond, HP and More

Chris Lange

Published: September 1, 2022 10:55 am

Markets pulled back yet again on Thursday, with the Nasdaq leading the charge with over a 1% decline. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials were down 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. The losing streak continues, as this session would market the fifth consecutive losing day for the broad markets.

The catalyst for the losing streak was ultimately the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Symposium, at which Fed Chair Jerome Powell proclaimed that the central bank would continue on its mission of fighting inflation by raising interest rates. Even though a hawkish Fed may be better for the economy in the long term, there will be a lot of pain in the near term, as we have seen over the past week.

The Fed previously said that markets could see a “soft landing,” but this becomes more unlikely by the day. Also, as interest rates have been raised at historic levels over the summer and there is no foreseeable end in sight, markets are due for much more pain.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Thursday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Best Buy, CrowdStrike, First Solar, Visa and more.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Underperform from Market Perform. The 52-week trading range is $4.38 to $30.06, and the stock traded near $9 on Thursday.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ): Loop Capital’s downgrade to Hold from Buy included a price target cut to $29 from $50. The shares traded near $28 on Thursday. The 52-week range is $26.11 to $41.47.

Molson Coors Beverage Co. (NYSE: TAP): The Bryan Garnier downgrade was from Buy to Sell with a $54 price target. The 52-week trading range is $42.46 to $60.12. Shares changed hands near $51 apiece on Thursday.

Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its $150 price target to $93. Stephens also lowered its Overweight rating to Equal Weight, and it reduced the price target to $80 from $146. Canaccord Genuity’s downgrade to Hold from Buy came with a price target cut to $85 from $155. Shares traded near $64 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $63.27 to $276.30.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Benchmark cut its Buy rating to Hold. On Thursday, shares traded near the bottom of the 52-week range of $64.00 to $117.67.

Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC): The Outperform rating at Oppenheimer was cut to Perform. Cowen downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its $65 price target to $43. Shares have traded as high as $94.92 in the past year but were near $31 on Thursday, which is down 48% year to date.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): Vertical Research raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $225 price target. The stock was last seen trading near $166, in a 52-week range of $137.54 to $213.65.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC): Benchmark downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold and has a $34 price target. The 52-week trading range is $40.43 to $69.36, and the share price was near $40 on Thursday.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $186 price target. The stock traded near $162 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $134.10 to $307.81.

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