The futures traded lower on Thursday, after a slow Wednesday that saw the major indexes close lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the big loser on the day, down 1.54%. The selling was triggered after Target came in with some very soft results and warned of a weak holiday season, despite overall retail sales coming in above estimates for October and some solid results from retail leaders earlier this week. CNBC reporter Bob Pisani noted Wednesday that the recent bear market rally was largely short-covering and has moved valuations to very rich levels.

Once again Treasury yields were lower across the curve, with the benchmark 30-year bond yield dropping 12 basis points to close at 3.86%. Despite the lower rates, the Dallas Federal Reserve said housing prices could drop a stunning 20%, as mortgage rates have more than doubled over the past year. That noted, mortgage rates have dipped back below 7% this week.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed the day lower. Analysts cited the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline from Russia to Eastern Europe after being halted for repairs after damage from a Russian rocket for the move lower. Natural gas closed 3% higher at $6.21, with some very cold temperatures across much of the United States this week. Gold and Bitcoin both ended the day lower.

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, November 17, 2022.

Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTR): Needham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is $56.43. Wednesday’s close was at $49.13.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $270 target price. The consensus target is $252. Wednesday’s close at $221.14 was down close to 5% on the day.

Chart Industries Inc. (NYSE: GTLS): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $205 target price. The consensus target is $224.65. The stock closed on Wednesday at $125.65.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO): Janney’s upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a $20 target price. The consensus target is $19.50. The stock closed over 16% higher on Wednesday after revenues beat estimates.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR): Oppenheimer raised its $105 price target to $115 while keeping an Outperform rating. The stock has traded as high as $100.00 and closed on Wednesday at $95.19.
Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL): BofA Securities kept a Neutral rating but lift its $215 target price to $230. The consensus target is $243.79. The stock closed on Wednesday at $222.97.

First National Corp. (NASDAQ: FXNC): Janney initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $21.50 target price. No consensus was available, as few analysts cover this microcap stock. Shares closed on Wednesday at $18.28.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ: GFS): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $78 target price. The consensus target is $70.95. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Wednesday at $64.24.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Truist Financial lowered its $400 target price to $382 but reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $342.22. Wednesday’s close was at $315.09.

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE: LAC): Evercore ISI started covering the stock with an Outperform rating and a $35 target price. The consensus target is $37.33. The stock closed on Wednesday at $25.95.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT): Jefferies raised its $450 target price on the Hold-rated shares to $500. That compares with the $458.53 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $466.24.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and has a $300 price objective. The consensus target is just $235.58. The stock closed 3% higher on Wednesday at $215.09.

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLU): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but cut its $10 target price to $8.75. The consensus target is $11.19. The stock closed down over 12% on Wednesday at $5.52 in the wake of disappointing earnings.

Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMP): Wolfe Research lowered its Peer Perform rating to Underperform with a $49 target. The consensus target is higher at $56.21. The shares closed on Wednesday at $51.98.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Credit Suisse initiated coverage with an Outperform rating. Its $78 target price is well above the $66.15 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $58.87, which was down almost 7% on the day after production numbers on memory chips were slashed.

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS): Citing this electronics manufacturer’s expansion into several secular growth markets, Zacks selected it as the Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $105.20 apiece, after climbing about 19% in the past month.

Privia Health Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PRVA): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $41 target price. The consensus target is $43.33. The shares closed on Wednesday at $23.96, down close to 12% for the day, after a secondary stock offering was announced.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $150 target price. The consensus target is $152.96. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $120.73, down over 4% on the day.
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): The Zacks Bear of the Day faces stiff competition in an evolving industry, points out the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $117.67 in the past year but closed most recently at $53.91. That is down around 34% in the past 90 days.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE: TME): Benchmark raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $7 target price. The consensus target is $5.76. Wednesday’s close at $5.28 was down over 9% on the day, despite solid results.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN): Credit Suisse downgraded the legacy chip giant to Neutral from Outperform. Yet, it raised its $185 target price to $205, well above the $171.86 consensus target. The stock closed at $173.46 on Wednesday.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has an $85 target price. The stock has traded as high as $79.45 in the past year but closed most recently at $69.62.

Unum Group Inc. (NYSE: UNM): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Its $50 price target is higher than the $44.92 consensus target. The shares were last seen on Wednesday trading at $40.00.

Varex Imaging Corp. (NASDAQ: VREX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $42 target price. The consensus target is $36.25. The stock closed on Wednesday at $22.90, up almost 4% on the day.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $165 from $155. The consensus target is $156.11. The stock closed on Wednesday at $148.50.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL): Atlantic Equities upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and raised its $110 target price to $129. The consensus target is $104.83, and Wednesday’s close was at $112.42.

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A recession, if not here already, certainly is on the way and could be ugly. Eight blue-chip stocks offer income investors timely entry points, solid upside potential and dependable dividends, and they should survive in a turbulent market.

Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Catalent, Cisco Systems, Dentsply Sirona, Home Depot, Netflix, Nu, Palo Alto Networks, Snowflake, Tyson Foods, UiPath, Unity Software, Workday and Zscaler. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Home Depot, Intel, Lincoln National, Marvell Technology, Medtronic, Microchip Technology, Nvidia, NXP Semiconductors, ON Semiconductor and more.

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