The futures were higher after a back-and-forth trading day Wednesday in which all the major indexes ended lower again, except for the Dow Jones industrials, which closed barely in the green. The narrative across Wall Street is becoming increasingly bearish, with BofA Securities’ Michael Hartnett warning clients of the potential for a job collapse in 2023 that could lead to a retest of the lows printed earlier this year, down in the 3,490 range on the S&P 500. Add in the fact that the “higher for longer” narrative is getting stronger, and so is the potential for a terminal rate that is above the current 5.00% to 5.25% target.

Yields across the Treasury curve plummeted yet again on Wednesday, with the 10-year note closing at the lowest yield since early September at 3.41%. The inversion with the two-year note remains at the widest point in 40 years, as the shorter maturity closed Wednesday at 4.26%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on Wednesday, and Brent has erased all the 2022 gains for the oil benchmark. One astounding statistic is that the difference between the highest and lowest price at which Brent has traded over 2023 is $64, which is the largest range since 2008. Natural gas posted a solid gain on the day, up almost 5% to $5.72. Gold finished the day modestly higher, while Bitcoin closed down close to 2%.

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, December 8, 2022.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut its $100 target price to $80. The consensus target is higher at $130.72. The stock closed on Wednesday at $91.50.

Alliant Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: LNT): BofA Securities cut its Buy rating to Neutral and clipped the $57 target price to $56. The consensus target is $56.88. Wednesday’s close was at $54.50.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX): Argus upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy with a $26 target price. The consensus target is $21.10, and Wednesday’s close was at $18.33.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $125 target price. The consensus target is $117.94. The stock closed at $106.11 on Wednesday.
Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): Though UBS downgraded it to Neutral from Buy, the firm also bumped its $84 target price to $86. The consensus target is $91.84, and shares closed 3% lower on Wednesday at $81.39.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): MKM Partners reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $2,350 target price to $2,650. The consensus target is $2,528.05. The shares closed on Wednesday at $2,455.26.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and has a $49 target price. The consensus target is $47.26. Wednesday’s final trade was for $41.18 a share.

Carvana Inc. (NASDAQ: CVNA): As Wedbush downgraded the stock Neutral for Underperform, it slashed its $9 target price to $1. The consensus target is $17.17 for now. The stock closed Wednesday at $3.83, down a stunning 43% on the day after the downgrade and overall pressure on the used car market as prices drop.

Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D): Wells Fargo downgraded the utility heavyweight to Equal Weight from Overweight and dropped its $73 target price to $64. That compares with a consensus target of $74.62 and Wednesday’s closing price of $58.

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT): Citigroup downgraded the natural gas giant to Neutral from Buy. It also chopped its $60 target price to $40, well below the $61.90 consensus target. Wednesday’s close was at $36.73.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): RBC Capital Markets started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $282 target price. The consensus target is $248.35. The stock closed on Wednesday at $208.52.

Insmed Inc. (NASDAQ: INSM): Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $37 target price. The consensus target is $44.27. The stock closed on Wednesday at $18.93.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB): JMP Securities lifted its Market Perform rating to Market Outperform. Its $215 target price is much less than the $293.14 consensus target. Wednesday’s close at $178.30 was up 23% for the day after the company posted outstanding results for the quarter.

M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB): Keefe Bruyette’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a price target cut to $189 from $215. The consensus target is $198.52. The stock closed on Wednesday at $147.97, down close to 8% for the day on the downgrade.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG): UBS downgraded the utility giant to Sell from Neutral and lowered its $42 target price to $30. The consensus target is $43.75. The shares closed almost 5% lower on Wednesday at $33.14.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS): Morgan Stanley cut its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and halved its $30 target price to $15. The consensus target is $18.46. Wednesday’s close at $8.79 was down almost 4% for the day on the downgrade.
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the solid waste and recycling giant to Market Perform from Outperform. It also trimmed its $152 target price to $148. The consensus target is $152.07. Shares closed on Wednesday at $135.57.

Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its target price to $175 from $150. The consensus target is $145.13. Wednesday’s close was at $139.47.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG): BofA Securities upgraded the stock and lifted its $269 target price to $367. The consensus target is $334.21. The shares ended Wednesday at $310.79, which was up almost 4% on the day.

Southwestern Energy Inc. (NYSE: SWN): As Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, it also lowered its $10 target price to $6.50. The consensus target is $10.97. The stock closed on Wednesday at $6.04.

Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX): Telsey Advisory reiterated a Market Perform rating but trimmed its target price to $5 from $6. The consensus target is $5.11. The stock closed on Wednesday at $3.69.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was to Equal Weight from Overweight, and its slimmed the $17 target price to $15. The consensus target is $11.64. The stock closed on Wednesday over 6% lower at $10.27.

Tradeweb Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: TW): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $74 target price. The consensus target is $73.63. The stock closed on Wednesday at $64.35.

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP): Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to Underperform from Peer Perform and has a $17 target price. The consensus target is $26.14 for now. The stock closed on Wednesday at $17.80, down almost 7% for the day on no news we could find.

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Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Array Technologies, Conagra Brands, Costco Wholesale, Edwards Lifesciences, Estee Lauder, General Electric, General Mills, Hanesbrands, JPMorgan Chase, Lumen Technologies, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Schlumberger, State Street, United Airlines and Walmart.

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