The futures traded lower on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve once again raised the federal funds rate by an expected 75 basis points. With the benchmark rate now 3.75% to 4.00% (which is the highest since 2008), many across Wall Street feel that we are within range of the terminal ending rate of 5%. All the major indexes closed lower Wednesday, after there was basically no pivot chatter whatsoever from Fed Chair Powell during his commentary. One thing seems to be a given: the lagging effect of interest rate increases may not be felt in full until next year.
Treasury rates were flat across the curve Wednesday, and it is possible that the day’s buying was short covering in an attempt to move the short positions out to a later date. The 10-year yield closed at 4.06%, which keeps the inversion with the two-year in place, as it closed Wednesday at 4.61%. The inversion’s spread has widened over the past few weeks.
After a big move higher Tuesday, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude followed through Wednesday, with both benchmarks tacking on close to 1% gains on the day. Prices moved higher intraday after the Energy Information Association reported an inventory draw for the period ending October 28 of 3.1 million barrels. Natural gas soared a massive 8.4% to close at $6.20. Gold and Bitcoin closed slightly lower on the day.
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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, November 3, 2022.
Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA): Mizuho downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and trimmed its $44 target price to $40. The consensus target is $39.50. Wednesday’s close was at $36.88.
BioCryst Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX): Evercore ISI upgraded the shares to Outperform from In Line and bumped its $14 target price up to $16. The consensus target is $17.60. The last trade on Wednesday came at $12.02.
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC | BCC Price Prediction): Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $72 from $64. The consensus target is $70.80. Wednesday’s close at $63.57 was down close to 5% on the day.
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Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC): Bernstein initiated coverage on the weed stock with an Underperform rating and a $1.50 target price. The consensus target is higher at $5.97. The stock closed over 7% lower on Wednesday at $3.23.
Catalent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT): The BofA Securities downgrade was to Neutral from Buy, and it slashed its $125 target price to $60. The consensus target is $106.38 for now. Wednesday’s close at $44.90 was down over 9% after an earnings miss and a lowered outlook.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Wolfe Research lowered its Peer Perform rating to Underperform with a $12 target price. The consensus target is $17.83. Wednesday’s $12.24 close was down over 8% for the day.
Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON): Bernstein initiated coverage of the marijuana stock with a Neutral rating and a $3 target price. The consensus target is $4.41. The stock closed over 8% lower on Wednesday at $2.97.
Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Macquarie initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and an $85 target price. The consensus is up at $128.88. Wednesday’s $74.57 close was down close to 8% on the day, with the weak tape likely getting the blame.
DCP Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DCP): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and has a $45 target price. The consensus target is $44.17. Wednesday’s close was at $38.55.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $150 target price. That compares with a $149.94 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $128.66.
GasLog Partners L.P. (NYSE: GLOP): Zacks has selected this liquefied natural gas play as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst says that this stock keeps winning and just made fresh 2022 highs. Shares last closed at $7.85, which is almost 55% higher than 90 days ago.
HubSpot Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBS): Macquarie started coverage on the company with an Outperform rating and a $355 target price objective. The higher $391.57 consensus target also compares with Wednesday’s closing print of $264.01, which was down 9% on the day.
Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $95 price target. The consensus target is $86.56. Wednesday’s close was at $77.15.
LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC): This stock is the Bear of the Day at Zacks, which suggests that investors avoid stocks that are probing 2022 lows. Shares have traded as high as $48.13 in the past year but closed most recently at a 52-week low of $9.82.
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OneSpaWorld Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: OSW): Truist started coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 target price. The consensus target is $13.50. The shares closed over 2% higher on Wednesday at $9.18.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Macquarie initiated coverage at Neutral with a $185 target price. The consensus target is up at $218.61. The stock closed at $161.78 Wednesday, down over 5% for the day.
Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating but trimmed its $19 target price to $16. The consensus target is $16.21. The stock closed on Wednesday at $8.63.
Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC): Baird’s upgrade was from Neutral to Outperform with a $41 price target. The consensus target is $40.69. Wednesday’s close was at $31.94.
Resideo Technologies Inc. (NYSE: REZI): Imperial Capital downgraded the stock to In line from Outperform, and it has a $27 price target. The consensus target is $30.50. The shares ended Wednesday at $15.83, down a stunning 32% after missing estimates and giving lower guidance for the year.
Semler Scientific Inc. (NASDAQ: SMLR): The B. Riley Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a target price cut to $45 from $60. The consensus target is $62.50 for now. The stock closed Wednesday at $28.01, down a massive 35% after reporting disappointing results for the quarter.
ServiceNow Inc. (NASDAQ: NOW): Macquarie resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $500 target price. The consensus target is up at $534.81. The stock closed on Wednesday down 6% at $392.68.
Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SIMO): Needham upgraded its Hold rating to Buy with a $75 target price. The consensus target is $104.38. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Wednesday at $58.58, despite missing earnings and revenue estimates.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW): Macquarie started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $173 target price. The consensus target is up at $219.88. Wednesday’s $147.75 close down over 7% on the day.
SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Goldman Sachs lowered its $8.50 price target to $7.50 and kept a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $8.21. The stock closed over 10% lower on Wednesday at $5.12.
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Universal Logistics Inc. (NASDAQ: ULH): The downgraded at Stifel was from Buy to Hold with a $36 target price. The consensus target is $36.50 for now. Wednesday’s close at $32.10 was down over 7% for the day on no news we could source other than a weak day for stocks.
XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Goldman Sachs slashed its $81 target price to $40 but maintained a Buy rating. The consensus target is $70.39. The stock ended Wednesday trading at $31.90.
ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $62 target price to $54. The consensus target is $63.08. Wednesday’s close at $30.81 was down 30% on the day after the company cut its free-cash-flow forecast.
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Six top financial institutions in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio likely are applauding the Federal Reserve’s latest increase in the federal funds rate as it means more earnings for them. These Warren Buffet stocks also come with solid dividends and are rated Buy across Wall Street.
Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AppLovin, Arista Networks, Charles Schwab, First Solar, Global Payments, Halliburton, Monster Beverage, NXP Semiconductor, QuantumScape, Union Pacific and Welltower. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on CrowdStrike, Ecolab, KKR, Microsoft, Tilray Brands, Twilio and more.
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