The futures are trading lower Friday morning, as the first full trading week for 2023 is set to end and after all the major indexes closed higher Thursday. The sword of Damocles that was the December consumer price index came in as expected, with prices rising year over year at 6.5%, as inflation dropped for the sixth straight month. While that is very encouraging, the Federal Reserve still will raise rates at its first meeting of 2023 in late January/early February. The question remains whether the increase will be 50 basis points like the December hike or it will be less.

Yields were down double digits across the Treasury curve Thursday, as the buyers returned. Once again, the rush to safe-haven government debt in front of the big bank quarterly results and next week’s start to the deluge of earnings reports from the top S&P 500 companies is raising some eyebrows. The inversion with the 10-year note, which closed at a stunning 3.45% yield, and the two-year paper stayed in place, as the latter closed at 4.13%. Bond traders see the ongoing difference between the two as a sign recession is on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed the day over 1% higher, as a slow but steady rally for the two benchmarks continued. The big winner on the day once more was natural gas, which closed up again after being hammered over the past couple of weeks. Gold finished up on the day at a six-month high, while Bitcoin closed back near the $19,000 mark at $18,978.

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, January 13, 2023.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Wedbush downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform and has a $145 target price. The consensus target is $167.33. The stock closed on Thursday at $152.19 a share.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Underweight rating and a $12 target. The consensus target is up at $16.73. Thursday’s close was at $15.88.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): Deutsche Bank upgraded the cell tower giant to Buy from Hold. Its target price of $254 is higher than the $250.59 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $232.21.

Beigene Ltd. (NASDAQ: BGNE): Daiwa Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $308 price target. The consensus target is just $268.94. Thursday’s last trade came in at $263.23, which was up close to 4% for the day, likely on the new coverage.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Credit Suisse lifted its Underperform rating to Neutral and set its target price at $200. The consensus target is $205.75. The stock closed on Thursday at $214.32.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight with a $15 target price. The consensus target for the movie chain giant is $14.33. The shares closed on Thursday at $10.49, up over 10% for the day on the upgrade.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a near doubling of its $13.60 target price to $26. That compares with a $17.42 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $20.90, which was up almost 9% for the day on the upgrade.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: COMM): When BofA Securities upgraded the stock from Underperform to Buy, it boosted its $8 price target to $15. The consensus is $10.38. Thursday’s $8.48 close was up 13% for the day on the double upgrade.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI): Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and trimmed its $153 target price to $152. The consensus target is $157.78. Thursday’s close was at $151.25.

FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS): The Neutral rating at Credit Suisse rose to Outperform, and the analyst lifted the $485 target price to $500. The consensus target is just $440.91, and shares closed at $413.88 on Thursday.

Funko Inc. (NASDAQ: FNKO): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy came with a target price trim to $13 from $15. The consensus target is $14.31. The stock closed on Thursday at $11.34.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL): Wolfe Research upgraded the oil service heavyweight to Outperform from Underperform and has a $51 target. The consensus target is $46.68. The stock closed on Thursday at $42.17, up close to 3% on the day.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES): Wolfe Research raised its Peer Perform rating to Outperform and has a $181 target price. The consensus target of $153.09 is much closer to Thursday’s close at $150.73 a share.

International Game Technology PLC (NYSE: IGT): This was selected as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks, with the analyst suggesting that the fun has just begun for this hot gaming stock. Shares last closed at $24.56 a share, which is up 42% or so from 90 days ago.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK): Zacks says that up moves in its Bear of the Day stock should be sold. Shares have traded as high as $96.87 in the past year but closed most recently at $76.67. The stock has been both up more than 16% and down over 13% in the past 90 days.

JAKKS Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK): As Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, the firm bumped its $20 target price up to $23. The consensus target is $26. Thursday’s $20.71 close was a gain of almost 4% for the day on the upgrade.
Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ: LBTYA): Bernstein downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform, and it has a $23 target price. The consensus target is $29.31. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $21.21.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Jefferies raised its Hold rating to Buy, and its $310 target price is now $385. The consensus target is $303.50. The shares closed on Thursday at $330.13.

ONE Gas Inc. (NYSE: OGS): Stifel downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold with an $80 price target. The consensus target is $75.83, and shares ended Thursday’s session trading at $80.09.

Spotify Technologies S.A. (NYSE: SPOT): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a target price cut to $95 from $115. The consensus target is $116.40. Thursday’s close was at $91.20.

Tenable Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TENB): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. It also trimmed its $47 target price to $44, even further below the $48.14 consensus figure. The stock closed on Thursday at $36.78.

TotalEnergies S.E. (NYSE: TTE): Wolfe Research upgraded the French energy giant to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $72 target price. The consensus target is $72.06. The shares closed at $64.55 on Thursday.

Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Jefferies downgraded the shares to Underperform from Hold and has a $19 target price. The consensus target is up at $34.19. The stock close almost 4% lower on Thursday at $31.36.

Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: WIX): The RBC Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform included a price target hike to $100 from $80. The consensus target is $97.60. The stock closed on Thursday at $81.74, up close to 5% on the day.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): Morgan Stanley cut its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and slashed its $162 target price to $120. The consensus target is higher at $177.71. Thursday’s close was at $104.66.

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In these turbulent times “better safe than sorry” are words to live by. Seven outstanding companies have paid shareholders for 50 years or more, the epitome of safe and dependable dividends, and their stocks are Buy rated by top analysts.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, Blackstone, CarMax, Coinbase Global, Expedia, Lennar, Livent, Oracle, Salesforce, Southwest Airlines and Warner Bros. Discovery.

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