The futures traded lower Wednesday, after another positive day on Wall Street that saw all the major indexes close higher. Some solid earnings results prior to disappointing tech results, the change in power and fiscal policy in the United Kingdom and a big drop in interest rates were the catalysts for the third straight day of big gains.

Tech giant Microsoft posted stellar results after the bell but was down over 7% in the aftermarket after reporting a slowdown in cloud growth. Alphabet also missed earnings expectations and was down almost 7%. With more big tech earnings headed our way, analysts and portfolio managers across Wall Street will be keying in on the outlook for the fourth quarter and 2023.

Interest rates plunged across the Treasury curve. Buyers returned in a big way, as government debt yields rose recently to the highest levels in almost 15 years. The five-, 10- and 30-year securities all closed higher, as yields fell over 10 basis points on each. Despite the move higher the two-year and 10-year inversion stayed in play, with the longer note closing at 4.11% and the shorter at 4.47%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed essentially flat, while natural gas closed up almost 2%. Some analysts cited Russia’s threat to Europe that a natural gas price cap would mean a full supply cut-off for the positive strength. Gold ended the day modestly lower, while Bitcoin traded higher, with the cryptocurrency giant up close to 4% and back over 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 Wednesday, October 26, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $440 target price. The consensus target is $306.17. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $281.43.

Altus Power Inc. (NYSE: AMPS): UBS started coverage with a Buy rating and a $14 price target. The consensus target is $13. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Tuesday at $9.70 due to the initiation.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR): While Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating, it also slashed its $309 price target to $270. The consensus target is just $217.25. Tuesday’s close at $230.75 was up close to 5% for the day.

Brigham Minerals Inc. (NYSE: MNRL): Stifel lowered its Buy rating to Hold and dropped its $31 price target to $27. The consensus target is up at $37.43. The stock closed on Tuesday at $30.62.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Stifel maintained a Hold rating with a $200 target price. The consensus target is $191.38. The stock closed on Tuesday at $151.32, down close to 6% on the day, despite posting results for the quarter that beat estimates.
Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $65 target price after the company posted solid third-quarter results. The consensus target is $69.89. Both are likely headed higher, as the stock closed Tuesday at $71.40, up over 18% on the day after the big earnings surprise.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $100 target price. The consensus target is $108.57. The shares closed on Tuesday at $94.80.

Coterra Energy Inc. (NYSE: CTRA): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $36.38. Tuesday’s close was at $30.15.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $440 target price. The consensus target is $391.31. Tuesday’s close was at $369.19.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Stifel resumed coverage of the energy giant with a Buy rating. Its $151 target price compares with the $148.98 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $132.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $170 target price. That is less than the $192.26 consensus target, but Tuesday’s closing trade was for $155.80 a share.

First Advantage Corp. (NASDAQ: FA): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a target price trim to $13 from $19. The consensus target is $20.71. Tuesday’s final trade at $13.61 was down almost 7% for the day on the downgrade.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $65 target price in front of the company’s third-quarter earnings report. The consensus target is higher at $70.45. The stock closed on Tuesday at $55.92.

Hertz Global Inc. (NYSE: HTZ): Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $31 target price to $25. The consensus target is $27.60. Tuesday’s close at $19.03 was up almost 4% on the day.

Hibbett Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $75 target price. The consensus target is $74.43. Tuesday’s close at $62.59 was a gain of over 10% for the day on the upgrade.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $95 price target in front of third-quarter results. The consensus target is lower at $86.75. The shares closed on Tuesday at $72.42.

International Seaways Inc. (NYSE: INSW): Even with shipping rates down from their peak, the Zacks Bull of the Day has continued to flourish, says the analyst. Shares hit an all-time high of $41.30 on Tuesday and are up more than 82% in the past 90 days.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the cybersecurity heavyweight. Its $220 target price compares with the $218.61 consensus figure. The stock closed 3% higher on Tuesday at $166.19.
Qualtrics International Inc. (NASDAQ: XM): Goldman Sachs trimmed its $20 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $18. The consensus target is $18.62. Tuesday’s $11.38 close was up almost 9% after the company provided fourth-quarter guidance that topped Wall Street expectations.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $32 target price. The consensus target is $39.09. The stock closed on Tuesday at $28.60, up close to 8% on the day after the company posted stellar third-quarter results.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $165 target price. The consensus target is just $156.07. Tuesday’s close was at $135.13.

Stem Inc. (NYSE: STEM): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $19 target price. The consensus target is $19.78, and shares closed at $13.08 on Tuesday.

TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE: FTI): HSBC Securities raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $13.50 target price. The consensus target is $9.24. The stock closed on Tuesday at $10.68.

Twilio Inc. (NASDAQ: TWLO): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $210 price objective. The consensus target is just $122.25. Tuesday’s $76.61 close was up almost 4% on the day.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $190 price target. The consensus target is $197.28. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $167.00.

Whirlpool Inc. (NYSE: WHR): Zacks selected this appliance maker as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst points out that it has missed on revenue projections in each of the past five quarters. Shares have traded as high as $245.44 in the past year but closed most recently at $137.00. That is down more than 23% in the past six months.

XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 price target. The consensus target is $73.61. The stock closed on Tuesday at $48.37, which was up over 2% for the day.

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These seven top oil stocks look like outstanding ideas now, as they are rated Buy and have dependable dividends and solid upside to the price objectives. Plus, Goldman Sachs analysts feel that the downside is limited at current levels.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Advanced Micro Devices, Analog Devices, Analog Devices, Chevron, Danaher, FedEx, Intel, Meta Platforms, NXP Semiconductors, Qualcomm, Southern, Texas Instruments, WeWork, Wolfspeed and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Arista Networks, Equinox Gold, Netflix, Ross Stores, Waste Management, Weber and more.

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