The futures were trading higher as we get set to end a very turbulent week. All the major indexes closed lower on Thursday, after some mixed economic data and more hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials. While the end of the 75-basis-point rate hikes appears to be at hand, the “higher-for-longer” narrative seems firmly in place. The futures market is betting on a 50-basis-point hike in December, and it is likely that we could see two of three more increases in the first quarter of 2023.

Treasury yields were higher across the board, as sellers returned on Thursday. Despite the pullback, the 10-year note and 30-year bond yields are still below 4%. The inversion between the two-year and 10-year remained in place and has widened to the widest level in four decades. The 10-year note closed at 3.78%, while shorter paper ended the day at 4.45%.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on the day, with analysts citing a de-escalation of geopolitical tensions after NATO confirmed that Russia did not fire the missile that struck Poland. It was reported Thursday that world oil demand topped pre-Covid levels in September. Natural gas ended the day almost 3% higher, while gold closed the day lower and Bitcoin modestly higher.

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 Friday, November 18, 2022.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating but lowered the target price to $197 from $230. The consensus target is $188.67. The stock closed on Thursday at $148.31, down 5% on the day following disappointing results.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $210 price objective The consensus target is lower at $187.80. The stock closed on Thursday at $161.47. The company reports earnings next Tuesday.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with an $85 target price. The consensus target is $89.23. The shares closed on Thursday at $67.99.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and has a $78 target price. The $45.57 consensus target is much closer to Thursday’s closing price of $41.32 per share.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $50 target price. The consensus target is higher at $54.82. Thursday’s $46.59 close was up almost 5% for the day after the company posted better than expected fiscal first-quarter results.
Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG): Truist Financial raised its $203 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $209. The consensus target is $180.47. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $161.78.

Dragonfly Energy Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: DFLI): Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating and a $12 target price. The stock has traded as high as $27.95 since its initial public offering in October but closed on Thursday at $8.38, up 5% for the day on the initiation.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Stifel raised its $710 price target on the REIT data center giant to $755. The consensus target is $719.50. The final Thursday trade was for $639.94 per share.

FIGS Inc. (NYSE: FIGS): Oppenheimer lowered its $22 price target to $12 while keeping an Outperform rating. The consensus target is $9.59. Thursday’s close at $6.17 was up almost 2% on the day, after beating third-quarter estimates earlier this month.

Hertz Global Inc. (NASDAQ: HTZ): This vehicle rental giant was selected as the Bear of the Day at Zacks, which cited an earnings outlook trending in the wrong direction. Shares have traded as high as $26.93 in the past year but closed most recently at $7.12, which is down more than 18% in the past 90 days.

International Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $116 target price. The consensus target is $124.57. The shares closed at $104.10 on Thursday.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $225 target price. The consensus target is $189.37. The stock closed on Thursday at $156.77.

Parsons Corp. (NYSE: PSN): Jefferies kept a Buy rating on the stock and has a $56 target price. The consensus target is $49.33. The shares closed on Thursday at $48.23.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX): Citing its valuation, strong dividend, and earnings outlook, Zacks named this refiner as its Bull of the Day stock. Shares last closed at $109.73, and the consensus price target of $122.21 would be a 52-week high.

Plains All-American Pipeline L.P. (NASDAQ: PAA): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and bumped its $18 target price to $19. The consensus target is $14.68. The shares closed on Thursday at $12.18 apiece.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK): Oppenheimer raised its $260 target price on the Outperform-rated stock to $278. The consensus target is $240.90. The shares closed at $258.67 on Thursday.

Science Applications International Corp. (NASDAQ: SAIC): Jefferies lowered its Buy rating to Hold with a $110 target price. The consensus target is lower at $103.00. The shares ended Thursday trading at $105.57.

Silvergate Capital Corp. (NYSE: SI): Goldman Sachs cut its $40 price target on the Neutral-rated stock to $35. The consensus target is $70.18 for now. The shares closed Thursday at $27.90, down almost 11% on the ongoing FTX and cryptocurrency issues.
Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK): BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating while lowering its $122 target price to $110. The consensus target for the big data giant is $123.75. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Thursday at $78.25.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Though Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating, the analyst cut the $205 target price to $175. The consensus target is $187.10. Thursday’s close at $162.01 was up 4% on the day after Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX): Goldman Sachs increased its $71 target price to $80 but maintained a Neutral rating on the discount retailer. The consensus target is $81.27. The stock closed on Thursday at $77.99.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Stifel raised its $30 target price to $40 as it reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $38.09. The stock closed on Thursday at $33.80.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating with a $165 price objective. The consensus target is just $158.27. Thursday’s final share price was $148.00.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): BofA Securities lowered its $220 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $200. That compares with the $209.40 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $148.81, which was down over 4% on the day.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM): Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating with a $55 target price. The consensus target is lower at $43.34. Despite earnings that exceeded expectations, on Thursday the stock closed over 5% lower at $25.57.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): Stifel lowered its $50 price target to $40 but maintained a Buy rating. The consensus target is $52.53. The shares were last seen on Thursday trading at $26.17. That was down close to 4% on the day after the company offered a disappointing outlook for 2023.

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Not for many years have we seen this kind of selling and disruption in the technology sector, but the good news now for investors with dry powder is that some of the biggest and best names are on sale. Five top tech stocks also pay dependable dividends.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Emerson Electric, Estee Lauder, Home Depot, Lithium Americas, Lowe’s Companies, Micron Technology, Qualcomm, Seagate Technology, Tencent Music Entertainment, Texas Instruments and Walmart. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Advance Auto Parts, AppLovin, Nio, Norfolk Southern, Norwegian Cruise Line, Quest Diagnostics, Salesforce, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, Workday and more.

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