The futures were lower on Thursday after investors fought back against a wall of selling early Wednesday. By the close, all three major indexes were in the red. The two-day rally that started the week was chalked up to very oversold conditions and a massive short-covering play by big institutions.

Many across Wall Street are once again hoping for a Federal Reserve pivot, after the Royal Bank of Australia came in with a smaller hike than expected this week, but the Fed governors and Chairperson Powell are determined to stay with the raise-and-hold plan to get the terminal funds rate to 4.6% by the first quarter of 2023. It also means that higher-for-longer status could very well stay in place, likely through all of next year as well.

Interest rates across the Treasury curve shot higher Wednesday, as profit takers showed up to take gains after a huge rally across the complex this week. The five-year, 10-year and the benchmark 30-year bond all saw yields go up on Wednesday. The inversion of the two-year and 10-year remained in place, with the short paper closing at 4.18% and the other at 3.76%. The inversion signals the recession we are in now.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both climbed higher after the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the OPEC+ group recommended on Wednesday that the alliance cut 2 million barrels per day of production starting in November. This is the deepest cut in production since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Both benchmarks closed up well over 1% on the day. Natural gas had a solid day, closing up 2% at just shy of the $7 level. Gold and Bitcoin both closed lower, surrendering some of the gains posted during the week’s early rally.

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 Thursday, October 6, 2022.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating on the Wall Street heavyweight and has a $125 target price. That compares with a $116.75 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $92.04.

Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CG): BofA Securities reiterated an Underperform rating on the private equity and asset managing giant. Its $34 price objective is much less than the $48.50 consensus target. Wednesday’s close was at $28.33.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD): Though Deutsche Bank lifted its Hold rating to Buy, it also lowered its $90 price target to $85. The consensus target is $86.18. Wednesday’s close was at $72.51.

Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN): Truist Financial downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has a $36 target price. The consensus is $36.17. The stock closed Wednesday at $31.56 down 6% likely due to the downgrade.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): The recently slashed guidance and a multiyear uphill battle with its TNT Express acquisition prompted Zacks to select this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $266.79 in the past year but closed most recently at $156.87. That is more than 39% lower year to date.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating for the big-box retailing giant and has a $399 target price. The consensus target is $354.03. The stock closed on Wednesday at $289.85.

Laredo Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: LPI): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut to $83 from $103. The consensus target is $106.63. The stock closed 3% higher on Wednesday at $74.75.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Evercore ISI resumed coverage of the cybersecurity giant with an Outperform rating and a $207 target price. The consensus target is $217.91. Wednesday’s final trade for $175.65 a share.

Parker-Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $325 target. The consensus target is $322.47. The shares closed on Wednesday at $263.19.

Payoneer Global Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYO): Goldman Sachs raised its $8.50 target price to $9.50 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $8.75. The stock closed on Wednesday at $6.85.

Penumbra Inc. (NYSE: PEN): Though Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it boosted the target price from $170 all the way to $217. The consensus target is $211.25, and Wednesday’s close was at $196.23.

Poshmark Inc. (NASDAQ: POSH): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. It also bumped the $17 target price to $18, well above the consensus target of $14.93. However, the stock closed on Wednesday at $17.61. Note that Korean internet giant Naver is buying the company for $1.2 billion.

Redwood Trust Inc. (NYSE: RWT): Wedbush started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $9 price target. The consensus target is $10.33. The stock closed on Wednesday at $6.09, which was down close to 4% for the day.

Remitly Global Inc. (NASDAQ: RELY): Goldman Sachs raised the $14 target price to $16 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $15, and shares were last seen on Wednesday trading at $11.12.

Schneider National Inc. (NYSE: SNDR): Stifel trimmed its $31 target price to $29 while keeping a Buy rating. The consensus is $28.07. The final trade for Wednesday was reported at $21.56.

Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SIMO): Susquehanna raised its Neutral rating to Positive with a $108 price target. The consensus target is $109.38. Wednesday’s close was at $67.93.

SMART Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SGH): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $28 price target. The consensus target is up at $32.50. The shares closed Wednesday at $15.80, down over 7% on the day after Needham reduced its $40 target price to $30.
Sotera Health Co. (NASDAQ: SHC): Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and hammered the $25 price target down to $9. The consensus target is $19.57 for now. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $7.15, down over 11% on what analysts described as lawsuit risk and the big downgrade.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO): A Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs rose to Buy, and the $131 target price is now $165. The consensus target is $162.30. The shares closed at $117.30 on Wednesday.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating and has a $100 price target. That compares with the much lower $76.57 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $61.80, which was down almost 3% for the day.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR): Stifel kept a Hold rating and has a $52 target price. The consensus target is just $42.96. The stock closed Wednesday at $51.30, as Elon Musk appears likely to buy the company at the original deal price of $54.20 per share.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI): Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst points out that shares are up more than 100% over the past five years and have widely outperformed the S&P 500. The stock last closed at $293.88 a share, and the $372.47 consensus target represents more than 26% upside potential.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $28 target price. The consensus target is just $17.56. The final trade for Wednesday came in at $2.99.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $66 target price. The consensus target is $64.13, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $46.72.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, AES, Amazon.com, CommScope, Emerson Electric, Intel, Leslie’s, Microsoft, Paramount Global, Prologis, Rivian Automotive and Rocket Companies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Chemours, Ford Motor, Goldman Sachs, Hasbro, Janus Henderson, Lumen Technologies, Morgan Stanley and more.

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