The futures traded lower after the produce price index numbers came in hotter than expected and as we get ready to end a wild week for the broader markets. All the major indexes closed up on Thursday, which helped to keep the S&P 500 from avoiding a five-day losing streak. Jobless claims came in higher than expected on Thursday, and continuing claims for the week came in at the highest number since last February. That may indicate that finding a job is becoming more difficult as employers are tightening their belts and many companies are laying off thousands.

Treasury yields finally pushed higher after a week of buying that had driven some maturities to yields not printed since early September. Once again, the shorter maturities saw the biggest selling, with the yield on the two-year note jumping back to the 4.32% level. That keeps the inversion with the 10-year note, which closed at 3.49%, at its widest in 40 years. Bond traders see the ongoing inversion as a harbinger of a recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed mixed on Thursday, after a wretched week that saw Brent give up all its 2022 gains at one point. WTI traded at its lowest level in a year. Despite the drop, top energy analysts feel that downside from current trading levels seems limited when overall industry fundamentals remain supportive and no major bearish catalysts appear to be on the horizon. Natural gas and gold closed flat on the day, while Bitcoin surged back over the $17,000 level, closing up 2.4% at $17,240.

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, December 9, 2022.

Altice USA Inc. (NYSE: ATUS): BofA Securities resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $3.50 target. The consensus target is up at $9.10. The final trade on Thursday was posted at $3.89.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Argus upgraded the legacy telecommunications giant to Buy from Hold and has a $24 target price. The consensus target is $20.28. The shares were last seen Thursday at $19.09.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP): BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $5.50 target. The consensus target is higher at $9.12. The stock closed on Thursday at $5.51.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC): Piper Sandler started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $36 target. The consensus target is $41.45. Thursday’s final trade came in at $32.44.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $100 target price. The consensus target is $94.50. Thursday’s closing share price was $72.08.
Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): UBS began coverage with a Neutral rating and a $24 target price. The consensus target is $25.31. The last trade on Thursday was recorded at $23.31.

BWX Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BWXT): Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight. The consensus target is $65.67. The stock closed on Thursday at $60.51.

DigitalOcean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCN): Needham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 target price. The consensus target is $38.25. The stock closed almost 7% higher on Thursday at $29.70 due to the upgrade and positive commentary from the Needham analyst.

DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE): Wolfe Research upgraded the utility giant to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $125 target. The consensus target is $125.57. Thursday’s $117.31 close was up almost 3% on the day.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE: HII): Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and has a $270 price target. The consensus target is $256.82. Thursday’s close was at $235.24.

International Flavors Inc. (NYSE: IFF): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has a good history of beating the numbers, but estimates for next year are coming down, says the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $151.86 in the past year but closed most recently at $107.70.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $546 target price. The consensus target is just $463.95. The stock closed on Thursday at $485.57.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $300 target price. The consensus target is lower at $238.74. Thursday’s final trade was for $203.56 a share.

MakeMyTrip Inc. (NASDAQ: MMYT): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $36 target price. The consensus target is $39.78. The $29.37 close on Thursday was a 5% gain for the day.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (NYSE: MAA): The Goldman Sachs upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $194 from $178. The consensus target is $181.28. The shares closed on Thursday at $163.37.

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and whacked the $94 price target down to $65. The consensus target is $110.75 for now. Thursday’s $43.85 close was down almost 12% on the day after disappointing clinical data this week.

Omeros Corp. (NASDAQ: OMER): UBS cut its Buy rating to Neutral and slashed its $12 target price to $2. The consensus target is $18.67 for now. The stock closed on Thursday at $2.20.

Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII): The Outperform rating at BMO Capital Markets dropped to Market Perform and the $120 target price is now $110. The consensus target is $113.36. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $105.17.
Principal Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PFG): Credit Suisse downgraded the insurance and investment heavyweight to Underperform from Neutral. Its $86 price target is still well above the $78.46 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $89.11.

Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS): Citing its reliable growth, Zacks named this cloud security firm as its Bull of the Day stock. The shares last closed at $117.74, and the consensus price target of $562.43 represents almost 20% upside.

Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $104 target price. The consensus target is $104.45. The stock closed at $99.49 on Thursday.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $45 target price. The consensus target is $40.91. Thursday’s final trade was for $38.64 a share.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Underweight from Neutral came with a target price cut to $16 from $25. The consensus target is $27.63 for now. Shares closed on Thursday at $16.50, down almost 4% on the day.

Sovos Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: SOVO): UBS downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy. It also trimmed its $17 target price to $16, below the $17.60 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $13.20, down almost 5% for the day, likely on the downgrade.

Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $59.75. Thursday’s close was at $37.65.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC): When J.P. Morgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight it also boosted its $185 price target to $200. The consensus target is $198.77. Thursday’s close was at $182.81.

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Seven of the highest-yielding Warren Buffett stock picks not only make sense for growth and income investors but they also look like outstanding ideas for 2023, when we could see a new bull market by the summer.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, Applied Materials, AutoZone, BorgWarner, Carvana, Dominion Energy, EQT, MongoDB, NRG Energy, PagSeguro Digital, Southwestern Energy, Stitch Fix, StoneCo and TripAdvisor. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AppLovin, Citigroup, General Dynamics, Hershey, JPMorgan Chase, Match, Mondelez International, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Salesforce, Shopify and more.

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