The futures were fairly positive to start out the week, coming off a relatively tumultuous trading week. Last week began with an incredibly rally on Monday and Tuesday and then gave most of it back on Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday edged out a gain. It remains to be seen what this week holds for the markets and if October can close out with a gain.

Treasury yields slowed after what has been a ridiculous rise last week that saw the 10-year Treasury note briefly hit a 14-year high at just above 4.3%. A report from The Wall Street Journal signaled that the Federal Reserve may be slowing the pace of its interest rate hikes in the future, following the upcoming meeting on November 1 and 2.

West Texas Intermediate crude was trading just below $83.50 a barrel Monday morning, falling significantly from Thursday’s high of $87. This comes after WTI bottomed out around $76 less than one month ago. Crude is still looking for a direction in general, but with President Biden’s recent move to release an additional 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it may be heading lower into the end of the year.

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, October 24, 2022.

Aaron’s Co. Inc. (NYSE: AAN): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and has a $6.50 price target. The consensus target is $14.53. Friday’s close was at $8.71.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): HSBC Securities initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is $99.93. The shares closed on Friday at $58.82.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the $180 price target to $140. The consensus target is $189.51. The shares closed on Friday at $146.59.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has been hit by new U.S. government restrictions on China, points out the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $167.06 in the past year but closed most recently at $82.42. That is down more than 47% year to date.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Strong Buy Outperform and has a $24 price target. The shares closed at $17.10 up over 2% on the day. The consensus price target is $20.20.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised the $230 price target to $231. The consensus target is $225.67. The stock closed flat on Friday at $189.35.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): HSBC Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold with a $177 price target. The shares last closed at $173.19, and the $181.72 consensus target is just below the 52-week high.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. Shares most recently closed at $74.00, with a consensus price target of $74.58.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR): Benchmark downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. The consensus target is $307.74. Friday’s close at $244.59 was less than a 1% loss for the day.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the price target to $160 from $199. Shares have traded as high as $266.79 in the past year but closed most recently at $153.23, which is down about 33% in the past quarter.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $40 price target. The consensus target is $44.88. The stock closed most recently at $35.90.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Reduce rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $34.74. The last trade on Friday was reported at $26.97.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Zacks named this yoga apparel leader its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst cites its valuation and outlook, given its ongoing expansion through diversification. The shares last closed at $298.63, and its $382.46 consensus price target represents about 28% upside.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and cut the price target to $26 from $30. The consensus price target is $210.15, and Friday’s closing trade was at $130.01.

NovoCure Ltd. (NASDSAQ: NVCR): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and cut the $90 price target to $70. The consensus target is $94.88. The stock closed on Friday at $72.61.

NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the price target to $140 from $200. The consensus target is $190.62. The stock ended Friday’s regular session at $145.25.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI): Gordon Haskett initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is $62.29, and Friday’s closing print was $54.88.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the price target to $90 from $120. The consensus target is $112.33. Friday’s close was at $85.49.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): HSBC Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $180 price target. The consensus target is $181.11. Friday’s close was at $115.74.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Guggenheim upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. The consensus target is $542.97. Friday’s close was at $360.67.

Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB): Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut the price target to $95 from $140. The consensus target is $163.44. The stock closed over 2.5% higher on Friday at $124.90.

Southern Co. (NYSE: SO): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and cut the price target to $59 from $63. The consensus target price is $70.81, and Friday’s final trade was posted at $64.50 a share.

Stoke Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: STOK): SVB Leerink upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $30 price target. The consensus target is $51.10. The shares closed on Friday at $13.64.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC): Guggenheim upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell. The consensus target is $34.52. Friday’s close at $24.03 was up 0.5% for the day.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN): Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight and has a $150 price target. The consensus target is $182.00. The final trade for Friday was for $159.72 a share.

Tremor International Ltd. (NASDAQ: TRMR): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. The consensus target is $16.40. Friday’s close was at $7.83.

WeWork Inc. (NYSE: WE): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $8 price target. The consensus target is $8.38. The stock closed on Friday at $2.09, up 2% on the day.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AT&T, Exxon Mobil, Hasbro, Juniper Networks, Moderna, Palo Alto Networks, Snap, Teva Pharmaceutical, Under Armour and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Applied Materials, ASML, D.R. Horton, KB Home, Lennar, Oracle, Plug Power PulteGroup, Toll Brothers and more.

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