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Monday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, Coinbase, FedEx, Hertz, McDonald's, Roblox, Schlumberger and More
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The futures were crushed as shell-shocked investors return to the scene of the crime after the markets closed down big-time across the board Friday, completing the fourth straight week of stock market losses. All the major indexes were pounded, and with investors anticipating a minimum of a 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate on Wednesday, we could be in for more turbulence this week.
The big culprit Friday was a stunning drop by FedEx, which was hammered, down over 20%, its biggest one-day loss ever. FedEx withdrew its full-year guidance and updated its outlook for the global economy. Essentially, the shipping firm expects a global recession in the months and years to come. That combined with lousy results from tech giant Adobe got the selling party started.
Interest rates were mixed across the Treasury curve, with some buyers coming in for the short and intermediate maturities. We saw some selling of the benchmark 30-year bond, which closed at a 3.52% yield. The omnipresent two-year and 10-year note inversion stayed well in play, with the former closing at a 3.87% yield and the latter at 3.45%. The bond market views the inversion as a harbinger of recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed modestly higher on Friday, while natural gas, which has been very volatile over the past week, closed down over 6% and finished the day at $7.80. Gold finished Friday higher, while Bitcoin again ended the day lower.
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, September 19, 2022.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): Stifel kept a Buy rating on the tech giant but slashed the $500 target price to $375. The consensus target is $459.46 for now. The stock closed down over 3% on Friday at $299.50 earnings results that beat estimates, but many across Wall Street felt that the company wildly overpaid for Figma, the software tool designer.
Arrow Electronics Inc. (NYSE: ARW): Wells Fargo’s downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight included a price target cut to $87 from $125. The consensus target is higher at $131.83. The last trade Friday was reported at $96.11.
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $107 price target. The consensus target is $99.91. The stock closed over 4% lower on Friday at $74.00.
CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR): MKM Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $190 target. That compares with a $178.95 consensus target and Friday’s last trade at $151.19 a share.
Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a $138 price target in front of the company’s fiscal first-quarter results expected on Thursday. The consensus target is in line at $138.79. The stock closed on Friday at $129.68.
Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Stifel lowered its $130 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $120. The consensus target is $142.48. The stock closed on Friday at $91.25, which was down over 4% on the day.
DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC): Susquehanna lowered its Positive rating to Neutral and cut the $39 target price to $31. The consensus target is $35.50. The shares closed on Friday at $27.04.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Goldman Sachs lowered their target on the Buy-rated shares to $250 from $288. The consensus target is $288.36 for now. The stock closed Friday at $161.02 down almost a stunning 22% on the aforementioned earnings issues.
Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $72 target. The consensus target of $71.27 is also much higher than the $50.42 close on Friday.
HealthEquity Inc. (NYSE: HQY): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a price objective of $85. The consensus target is $77.92. The closing share price on Friday was $71.36.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $31 target price. The consensus target is $30.25, and shares closed on Friday at $18.55.
Infosys Inc. (NYSE: INFY): As Susquehanna downgraded the shares to Neutral from Positive, it also cut its $29 target price to $20. The consensus target is $22.25. The stock closed on Friday at $17.38.
Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MAXN): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and lifted its target price to $30 from $25. The consensus target is $23.80. The stock ended Friday’s session at $25.60, up almost 4% for the day.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on shares of the legacy fast-food giant and has a $278 price target after meeting with the company’s new chief financial officer. The consensus target is higher at $282.88. The stock closed on Friday at $254.91.
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $150 target price. The consensus target is just $114.86. The shares closed on Friday at $106.09.
Omnicell Inc (NASDAQ: OMCL): KeyBanc Capital Markets initiated coverage on the stock with an Overweight rating and a $130 target price. That compares with the higher $150.22 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $95.27.
Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Underperform from Hold and cut the $130 target price to $112. The consensus target is $151.70. The stock closed 11% lower on Friday at $118.07 on the FedEx fallout.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): MKM Partners started coverage on the cybersecurity giant with a Buy rating and a $250 price objective. The consensus target is lower at $216.35. Friday’s last trade was for $174.09 a share.
Roblox Corp. (NYSE: RBLX): Goldman Sachs stuck with a Sell rating and has a $28 price target after attending the company’s investor day. The consensus target is up at $45.60. The $39.50 close on Friday was down over 9% after the release of the company’s August metrics data.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB): Citing its big momentum, Zacks selected this oilfield services giant as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $38.37, and the $49.66 consensus target is just shy of the 52-week high.
Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO): Morgan Stanley raised its Underweight rating to Equal Weight and pushed the $51 price target up to $55. The consensus target is $62.64. The stock closed on Friday at $46.68.
Teck Resources Ltd. (NYSE: TECK): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was to Overweight from Equal Weight, and it lifted its $41 target price to $51. The consensus target is $41.12. The stock closed on Friday at $32.08.
Unum Group Inc. (NYSE: UNM): Goldman Sachs raised its $42 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $48. That compares with the $38.54 consensus target and Friday’s last print of $40.02.
Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV): KeyBanc Capital Markets started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $220 price target. The consensus target is $219.41. The stock closed at $175.03 on Friday.
Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): MKM Partner initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $225 price target. The consensus target is $220.03. The stock closed on Friday at $169.49, down close to 4% on the day.
After four losing weeks in a row for the stock market, and with a host of recession warning signs flashing, it makes sense for investors to play it safe. Seven top utilities stocks have very dependable dividends and might be just the place to ride out the storm.
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Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, Bumble, Devon Energy, Electronic Arts, EOG Resources, Fortinet, Kohl’s, Lucid, Marriott International, Match, Netflix, Nordstrom, Palo Alto Networks, Permian Resources, Wynn Resorts and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Adobe, Alcoa, Autodesk, Baidu, CrowdStrike, FedEx, Infosys, International Paper, Snowflake and more.
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