The futures were lower as we get set to start the new trading week. The major indexes ended mixed on Friday after the nonfarm payrolls for November once again surprised to the upside. All eyes on Wall Street are now laser-focused on the final Federal Reserve meeting of 2022, which will take place on December 13 and 14, with a rate decision coming at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on December 14.

It is widely expected that, for the first time since back in the spring, the rate hike will be lowered to 50 basis points, which once again could spark a huge bear market rally like we saw last Wednesday.

After plunging last week in a massive safe-haven buying spree, rates across the Treasury curve were lower again on Friday. The biggest buying Friday was the benchmark 30-year bond, which closed at a 3.56% yield. The inversion between the two-year and 10-year note stayed in place, with the former closing at 4.33% and the 10-year at 3.57%. The inversion is a harbinger of recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate closed lower Friday after a solid week for both. Natural gas ended lower, down over 7% despite power prices shooting higher in Europe as wind speeds have stalled and cold weather sets in. Gold closed lower after a strong week that saw the precious metal trade back over the $1,800 level. Bitcoin reversed in the afternoon Friday to close slightly 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 Monday, December 5, 2022.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating while trimming its $100 price target to $90. The consensus target is $101.10. The stock closed Friday at $76.38, which was up over 3% on the day.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Morgan Stanley downgraded the REIT giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the $225 target price to $187. The consensus target is $200.36. The stock closed on Friday at $172.57.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): Goldman Sachs lowered its $20 price target on the Sell-rated shares to $16. The consensus target is $16.25. The stock closed on Friday at $18.19.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $720 target price. The consensus target is lower at $644.80. Friday’s close was at $540.80.

Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE): Zacks has selected this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst suggests a VIX above 20 during the bear market keeps options hedging and market data in high demand. Shares last closed at $128.33, and the $142.15 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.
Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE): Wedbush downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and trimmed its $27 target price to $35. The consensus target is $34.88. Friday’s close was at $33.24, down over 4% on the day, likely on the downgrade.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating while lowering its price target to $270 from $285. That compares with the $269.39 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $243.96, which was up over 3% for the day.

DoorDash Inc. (NASDAQ: DASH): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the shares to Sector Perform from Outperform. It also dropped its $70 target price to $60, well below the $75.30 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $55.19, down over 3% after the downgrade.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and reduced its $170 target price to $160. The consensus target is $159.55. The stock closed on Friday at $151.36.

FIGS Inc. (NYSE: FIGS): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and has a $12 target price. The consensus target is $8.68. The stock closed over 8% higher on Friday at $8.53.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: GIII): Telsey Advisory reiterated a Market Perform and lowered the target price to $22 from $14. The consensus target is $23.29. Friday’s close was at $12.79.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In line from Outperform and lowered its $30 target price to $24. The consensus target is $23.39. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $18.92.

IAC Inc. (NASDAQ: IAC): UBS initiated coverage with a Sell rating and a $46 target price. The consensus target is much higher at $84.75. The shares closed on Friday at $52.92.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $65 target price. The consensus target is $63.44. The stock was last seen on Friday trading at $53.38, up 3% on the day.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $103 target price. The consensus target is $96.71, and Friday’s closing print was $88.30.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): Stifel initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $68 target price. The consensus target is up at $78.00. The last trade on Friday was reported at $55.00.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating but cut its $70 target price to $55. The consensus target is $70.32. Friday’s last trade was reported at $44.72.

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE: NSA): Baird lowered its Outperform rating to Neutral and cut its $62 target price to $45. The consensus target is $50.59. Friday’s close was at $39.18.
PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): Jefferies maintained a Neutral rating and has a $90 target price. The consensus target is up at $106.57. The stock closed on Friday at $74.66, down close to 5% for the day on no news we could source.

Permian Resources Corp. (NYSE: PR): Truist Securities raised its target price to $15 from $14 and reiterated a Buy rating. The consensus target is $11.96. The stock closed on Friday at $9.95.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH): Goldman Sachs raised its target price on the Neutral-rated shares to $67 from $50. The consensus target is $72.83. The stock closed on Friday at $72.93.

S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $390 target price. The consensus target is $390.41. The last trade on Friday was reported at $359.80.

UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight while trimming its $49 target price to $47. The consensus target is $46.71. The shares closed on Friday at $41.00.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its target price to $575 from $510. That compares with a $490.63 consensus and Friday’s last trade of $471.33.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and boosted its $205 target price to $220. The consensus target is $213.54. The stock closed on Friday at $174.90, down almost 9% on the day despite beating earnings handily.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS): Citing falling estimates due to the global slowdown, Zacks named this Chinese e-commerce firm as its Bear of the Day. The stock hit a 52-week high of $12.13 on Friday and is up about 26% in the past six months. The consensus price target is $12.35.

Zillow Group Inc. (NYSE: ZG): UBS started coverage with a Buy rating and a $50 target price. The consensus target is just $36.24. The last trade on Friday was for $38.19 a share.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating with a $140 target price. The consensus target is up at $203.19. Friday’s $128.99 close down almost 11% for the day despite posting results that beat expectations, but the forward outlook disappointed.

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A recent Goldman Sachs research report suggests buying 2022 laggards could be the way for some big 2023 gains. Five top technology stocks have huge upside potential and look like outstanding ideas now.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included ADT, Costco Wholesale, CrowdStrike, Gilead Sciences, Liberty Global, Otis Worldwide, PagSeguro Digital, Palo Alto Networks, Salesforce, Sunrun, Synchrony Financial and Zscaler.

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