The futures traded higher on Wednesday, after a mixed start to the holiday-shortened trading week that saw the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 finish the day lower, with only the Nasdaq eking out a tiny gain. With earnings pouring in this week from 26 top S&P 500 companies, analysts will be looking not only at the fourth-quarter results but will be keenly focused on guidance for both the first quarter and the entire year. Many across Wall Street are expecting that full-year earnings forecasts for many stocks will have to be drastically lowered to accommodate what likely will be a slowing economy as the year progresses.

Treasury yields were flat to modestly higher across the curve on Tuesday, as the sellers from last Friday stepped back following a big rally last week that saw the 10-year yield drop back to levels not seen since the fall. With the United States ready to hit the debt limit on Thursday, you can bet that there will be some serious political fighting.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude continued to push higher Tuesday, with the former over the $85 a barrel level and WTI back over $80. Both major benchmarks were hit hard to start the year but rallied 8% last week, which carried over into Tuesday’s trading. Natural gas was the big winner in the energy complex, closing up almost 5% at $3.59. Gold was flat on the day, while Bitcoin continued to march higher, closing over the $21,000 level at $21,301. That is the highest close for the beleaguered cryptocurrency giant since September.

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 Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP): Scotiabank upgraded the European energy giant to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform and lifted its $37 target price to $42, above the $39.20 consensus target. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $35.69.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Atlantic Equities raised its Neutral rating to Overweight with a $200 target price. The consensus target is $190.65. The stock closed 2% higher on Tuesday at $172.97.

Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP): Wells Fargo raised its Underweight rating on the legacy cybersecurity software giant to Equal Weight and has a $130 target price. That is in line with Tuesday’s closing share price of $130.03.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): Scotiabank upgraded the energy heavyweight to Sector Perform from Sector Outperform, but it also trimmed its $145 target price to $140. The consensus target is $138.15. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $120.24 a share.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR): Truist Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $68 target price. The consensus target is $67.95. The shares closed on Tuesday at $61.37.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): Scotiabank’s upgrade to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform included a target price hike to $135 from $120. The consensus target is $120.98. Tuesday’s close was at $112.94.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN): As Morgan Stanley lifted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight, the $124 target price rose to $135. The consensus target is still higher at $142.86. Tuesday’s $111.46 close was up almost 4% on the day after positive Wall Street comments on the company.

ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR): Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight. It also raised its $215 target price to $260, above the $255.20 consensus target. The shares closed on Tuesday at $225.45.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH): Citing disappointing quarterly results and downbeat guidance, Zacks selected this homebuilder as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $45.04 in the past year but closed most recently at $35.19.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR): The Underweight rating at Morgan Stanley increased to Equal Weight, and the $44 target price rose to $46. The consensus target is higher at $53.32. The last trade on Tuesday was recorded at $46.19.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): Guggenheim’s downgrade was so Sell from Neutral. Its $212 price target compares with the $293.77 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $240.35.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR): Citigroup raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $210 target price. The consensus target is just $197.56. Tuesday’s close at $172.74 was a one-day gain of over 2% on recent upgrades, including this one.

NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE): Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and has a $227 target price. The consensus target is up at $263.73. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Tuesday at $206.13 due to the solid upgrade.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG): Zacks named this utilities stock as its Bull of the Day, citing its dividend yield, stable business model and expansion plans. Shares last closed at $32.15 and have a consensus price target of $39.88.

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL): When BofA Securities upgraded the trucking giant to Neutral from Underperform, it boosted its $266 price target all the way to $334. The consensus target is $287.83, much lower than Tuesday’s close at $314.58.

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX): Barclays downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and has a $110 target price. The consensus target is $121.33. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $118.42.

ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD): J.P. Morgan upgraded the shares from Neutral to Overweight with a $245 target price. The consensus target is $252.50. Tuesday’s $225.38 close was up over 3% for the day on the upgrade.
RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG): Piper Sandler cut its Overweight rating to Neutral with a $39 target price. The consensus target is higher at $52.54. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $36.50.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight included a price target trim to $47 from $50. The consensus target is $53.22. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Tuesday at $57.79 despite the downgrade as the corporate metrics have remained outstanding.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO): The BMO Capital Markets upgrade was to Outperform from Market Perform. The analyst also raised the $135 target price to $160, well above the $147.93 consensus target. The shares closed at $137.61 on Tuesday.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): SVB Leerink upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $374 target price is well above the $327.40 consensus target. Tuesday’s closing print of $311.98 was up close to 4% on the day, likely on the upgrade.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight and nudged its $30 target price up to $35. The consensus target is higher at $47.24. The shares closed on Tuesday at $43.02.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN): The downgrade at Deutsche Bank was from Buy to Hold with a $23 target price. The consensus target is $24.76. The last trade on Tuesday was served at $22.82 a share.

Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN): A double upgrade at BofA Securities took the rating from Underperform to Buy. The $50 target price tops the $46.88 consensus target. The stock’s $44.22 close on Tuesday was up close to 3% for the day on the strong upgrade.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Guggenheim downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell with a $142 target price. The consensus target is up at $201.71. Tuesday’s close was at $166.69.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE): Wells Fargo’s upgrade to Equal Weight from Underweight included a big hike in the price target, from $52 to $100. The consensus target is just $86.82, and Tuesday’s close was at $89.66.

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Six top Goldman Sachs stock picks offer dependable dividends and should outperform if the economy sees a soft landing. Financial stocks dominate the list, as they tend to benefit when interest rates are higher.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Carrier Global, Caterpillar, D.R. Horton, Lockheed Martin, Mosaic, Netflix, Raytheon Technologies, Salesforce, Wendy’s and Workday.

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