The futures were lower on Friday, after a dreadful risk-off Thursday when all the major indexes were hammered. The Nasdaq led the losers, closing down 3.23% to the lowest finish for all three since November 9. Rate hike worries were cited after the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate another 50 basis points on Wednesday.

While most across Wall Street expect at least two more 25-basis-point moves, in February and March, the real concern is the terminal rate will be above 5% as the Fed suggested this week, which could mean a third hike in May of 2023. In addition, Goldman Sachs warned last week that there likely will be no Fed pivot to lower rates until 2024.

Yields were down across the Treasury curve, as worried investors piled into the safe-haven government debt. The yields on the 10-year note closed at levels not seen in over three months, down six basis points at 3.45%. The two-year note closed at 4.24%, which was flat on the day, while keeping the inversion in place and at the widest levels in 40 years.

After a strong week, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on Thursday, each down well over 1%. Natural gas was the big energy winner, closing at $6.91 up over 7%. Gold and Bitcoin both followed the equity sell-off and closed 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 Friday, December 16, 2022.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Morgan Stanley downgraded the legacy telecom giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $20 target price. The consensus target is $20.28. The stock closed on Thursday at $18.47.

Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE: AVY): BofA Securities lifted its Neutral rating to Buy, and its $200 price target increased to $205. The consensus target is $199.82. Thursday’s close was at $181.32.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX): Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and cut its $69 target price to $51. The consensus target is $63.20. The stock closed on Thursday at $52.63.
BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $239 price target. The consensus target is $215.56. The shares ended Thursday trading at $182.04.

Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA): Cowen’s upgrade was from Market Perform to Outperform with a $98 target. The consensus target is higher at $108.47. The stock closed on Thursday at $83.02.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In line from Outperform and cut the $50 target price to $40. The consensus target is $48.80. The stock ended Thursday 3% lower at $33.25.

DXC Technology Co. (NYSE: DXC): J.P. Morgan’s upgrade to Neutral from Underweight included a target price hike to $33 from $31. The consensus target is $33.99. Thursday’s close was at $27.00 a share.

Genpact Ltd. (NYSE: G): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight. It also sliced its $55 target price to $50, below the consensus target of $51.64. The stock closed on Thursday at $44.38.

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB): Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $65 target price. The consensus target is up at $68.25. Thursday’s close was at $48.83.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): The Outperform rating at Cowen dropped to Market Perform, and the $10 target price is now $9, the same as the consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $6.75, down almost 4% for the day.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: MSGE): Morgan Stanley raised its Underweight rating to Equal Weight with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $60.00. The stock closed at $42.57 on Thursday.

Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR): Though Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, it also raised its $163 target price to $170. That compares with the $169.47 consensus target and Thursday’s closing price of $155.41

Masimo Corp. (NASDAQ: MASI): BTIG Research upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Its $180 price objective is well above the $162.83 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $144.31.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB): Wedbush started covering the stock with an Outperform rating and a $240 target price. The consensus target is up at $273.74. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $203.71.

PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL): The upgrade at Morgan Stanley was to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm’s $32 target price tops the $29.79 consensus and the most recent close at $29.36 per share.
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and has a $24 target price. The consensus target is $24.63. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $18.77.

RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): Wedbush initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is higher at $53.92. The shares ended Thursday almost 4% lower at $40.18.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP): As Jefferies downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy, it also trimmed its $12 target price to $10. The consensus target was last seen at $11.69. The stock ended Thursday trading at $8.76.

Snowflake Inc. (NASDAQ: SNOW): Wedbush started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $144 target price. The consensus target is $196.40. The stock closed more than 4% lower Thursday at $142.65.

VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN): Baird upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised its $216 target price to $265. The consensus target is $208.90. The shares closed on Thursday at $199.67.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and bumped its $41 target price up to $44. The consensus target is $45.30. The shares ended Thursday’s session at $37.77.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC): The Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell from Neutral came with a target price cut to $31 from $43. The consensus target is $44.34. Thursday’s $32.21 closed was down over 10% for the day on the downgrade.

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Eleven top Goldman Sachs tech stock picks match the firm’s 10 trends for 2023. Growth investors with a long-term time horizon could be poised to make some huge profits from these sector giants over the next few years.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Archer Daniels Midland, Blackstone, Bloom Energy, Carnival, Chevron, Danaher, EQT, KKR, Nike, PACCAR, Plug Power, PulteGroup, QuantumScape and RingCentral.

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