The futures traded higher Tuesday, after a massive equity rally started the week, with technology and the financials leading the way. All the major indexes finished Monday higher, with the Nasdaq closing the day up a sharp 3.56%. Some solid earnings to start a very busy week for third-quarter reports, combined with improving sentiment over the situation in the United Kingdom, helped to fuel the rally. While the positive start to the week is very encouraging, many still feel it was likely a short-covering bear market rally.

Treasury yields were mixed across the curve, as buyers swooped in to buy short maturities, while sellers pushed the benchmark 10-year bond yield back over 4%, closing at 4.02%, the highest since 2008. The inversion stayed well in place after buyers brought the two-year note yield down to 4.45%. Bond traders see the inversion as a recession warning.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed modestly lower on the day, while natural gas surrendered some of last week’s gains, closing down almost 8%. Top strategists predict strong earnings for the energy sector in the third quarter. Gold and Bitcoin joined in the move higher, with both ending the day higher. The cryptocurrency giant closed back in on the $20,000 level.

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 Tuesday, October 18, 2022.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating on the technology heavyweight while trimming its $180 target price to $177. The consensus target is $183.77. Apple shares closed almost 3% higher on Monday at $142.41.

Arvinas Inc. (NASDAQ: ARVN): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with an $80 target price. The consensus target is up at $91.30. The shares ended Monday at $44.47, a 5% gain for the day.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $35 target price. The consensus target is just $26.95. The stock closed over 3% higher on Monday at $20.77.

Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Sell rating and has a $245 target price. The consensus target is higher at $323.12. The stock closed on Monday at $354.78.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $1,800 price target. The consensus target is $1796.67, and the final trade on Monday was served at $1541.98.

Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD): Morgan Stanley lifted its Underweight rating to Equal Weight with an $82 target price. The consensus target is $83.79. Monday’s close at $73.98 was a 2% gain for the day.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $79 price target after the bank beat expectations. The consensus target is $57.43. The stock closed on Monday at $43.59.

Citi Trends Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN): Gordon Haskett raised its Reduce rating to Hold with an $18 target price. The consensus target is $32.25, and Monday’s close at $20.12 was up 3.5% on the day.

Constellation Energy Corp. (NYSE: CEG): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $105 target price to $109. The consensus target is $91.86. The shares ended Monday at $85.19, which was close to a 5% gain on the day.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): This footwear maker was selected as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks, with the analyst suggesting that the popularity of the foam clogs is rising again. The stock last closed at $78.03 a share, which is a gain of about 44% in the past 90 days.

CubeSmart (NASDAQ: CUBE): UBS started coverage with a Buy rating and a $45 target price. The consensus target is $55.11. The shares closed almost 6% higher on Monday at $39.35.

Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $50 price target. The consensus target is $47.86. Monday’s $46.10 close was a 5% gain on the day.

FirstCash Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS): When Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform, it lifted its $83 price target to $88. The consensus target is up at $90.17. Shares were last seen Monday trading over 4% higher at $81.52.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC): The Raymond James upgrade was from Market Perform to Strong Buy with a $143 target price. The consensus target is $159.43. Monday’s close at $119.31 was a 6% gain on the day.

Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN): While Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating, it reduced its $150 target price to $90. The consensus target is $114.89. The stock closed on Monday at $58.70, up just shy of 7% for the day.

FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $45 price objective to $35. The consensus target is $43.38. Monday’s close was at $25.29.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and a $154 target after the bank crushed earnings expectations. The consensus target is $135.04. The stock closed over 4% higher on Monday at $115.86.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating with a $45 price target after the grocery giant announced a purchase of rival Albertsons last week. The consensus target is up at $54.46. The stock ended trading on Monday at $42.11.

Life Storage Inc. (NYSE: LSI): UBS started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $106 target price. The consensus target is higher at $150.18. Monday’s $104.61 was up 4% on the day.

Livent Corp. (NYSE: LTHM): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating. Its $28 target price is less than the $33.49 consensus target. The stock closed up 4% on Monday at $27.96.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA): Loop Capital’s downgrade to Hold from Buy included a target price cut to $17 from $30. The consensus target is $27.03. Monday’s close was at $16.13.

Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD): Though Scotiabank upgraded the shares to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform, it lowered its $137 price objective to $116. The consensus target is higher at $147.29. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Monday at $105.23.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN): Keefe Bruyette raised the stock to Outperform from Market Perform but trimmed the $27 target price to $25. The consensus target is $25.94. The stock closed on Monday at $19.27.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Northland Capital started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $150 target price. The $222.20 consensus target is also well above Monday’s closing print of $147.18, after a 3% gain on the day.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR): Susquehanna initiated coverage with a Positive rating. Its $25 target price compares with the $22.65 consensus target and Monday’s close at $16.79.

TPG Inc. (NASDAQ: TPG): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $33. The stock closed on Monday at $28.16.

Wesco International (NYSE: WCC): The Jefferies upgrade to Buy from Hold included a target price bump to $150 from $148. The consensus target is up at $173.56. The stock closed Monday at $124.72, up almost 6% for the day on the upgrade.

Westlake Corp. (NYSE: WLK): Deutsche Bank’s downgraded was to Hold from Buy, and it lowered its $100 price target to $95. The consensus target is $105.11. The stock closed on Monday at $92.67.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and slashed the $78 target price to $50. The consensus target is $78.57. The stock’s $48.48 close on Monday was up over 3% for the day.

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Three top oil exploration and production leaders have variable dividend plans, meaning they increase payments to shareholders when oil prices are higher. Their stocks have dropped dramatically since the summer, and they look poised for big total return potential in 2023.

Monday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Coca-Cola, Datadog, Domino’s Pizza, Enphase Energy, Harley-Davidson, Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Global, Microsoft, Nasdaq, Nike, Tesla and Workday. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Albertsons Companies, Apple, Clorox, Cloudflare, Fox, Kroger, Opendoor Technologies, Petrobras and more.

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