The futures were lower after a big risk-off day on Wall Street in which all the major indexes finished the day lower. Initial strong gains after the open on Wednesday turned out to be short-lived after holiday retail sales results came in way below expectations. The 1.1% drop was the largest in over a year. While wholesale prices for December fell more than expected, sellers reacted to the horrible retail sales print, combined with massive layoffs at Microsoft, and the Empire State Manufacturing results on Tuesday, which contained the worst monthly output since the start of the pandemic nearly three years ago.

Treasury yields plummeted across the curve as worried investors rushed back to the safety of government bonds. Yields on the five-year and 10-year notes dropped by double digits, with the latter closing at a stunning 3.38% handle. That kept the inversion with the short two-year paper well in place, as it closed at 4.08%. Bond traders view the inversion of the two securities as a harbinger of recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude initially tried to continue their climb from Tuesday, but the oil benchmarks each finished the day down over 1%. The early move was spurred on when the International Energy Agency reported that global oil demand could hit a record high of 101.7 million barrels per day this year, citing the potential for a big increase coming from China.

Natural gas closed down over 8% at $3.29. Gold closed modestly lower, while Bitcoin was down almost 2% to close below $21,000, after a big rally off the lows recently. Pundits noted that all the losses in the cryptocurrency giant from the FTX debacle had been recouped.

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, January 19, 2023.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $350 target price. The consensus target is higher at $387.17. The last trade Wednesday came in at $341.31.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Zacks says that inconsistent quarterly results and underperformance have been a thorn in the side of its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $237.53 in the past year but closed most recently at $146.98.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Canaccord Genuity reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $200 target price to $170. The consensus target is $172.67. Shares closed on Wednesday at $135.21.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG): Convinced that the stock’s run easily could continue, Zacks named this processed foods giant as its Bull of the Day. The shares last closed at $38.45, and the $41.67 consensus target price would be a multiyear high.
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $120 price target. The consensus target is higher at $173.58. The shares ended Wednesday’s trading at $101.00, down over 3% on the day.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Scotiabank started coverage with a Sector Outperform rating and a $65 target price. The consensus target is $63.93. The last trade for Wednesday was down over 3% to $48.38.

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY): SMBC Nikko’s upgrade to Outperform from In Line included a price target hike to $103 from $86. The consensus target is $92.89. Wednesday’s close was up over 3% to $78.15.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was to Equal Weight from Overweight, and its $152 price target slipped to $148. The consensus target is $143.31. The shares closed Wednesday at $140.41, which was down over 3% on the day.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX): Stifel resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $450 price target. The consensus target is $452.83. The stock closed on Wednesday at $466.89.

Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI): The Buy rating at BofA Securities was cut to Neutral. The analyst also trimmed the $19 target price to $17, below the $19.71 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $16.22.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD): SMBC Nikko raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $21 target price. The consensus target is $30.14. The shares were last seen Wednesday trading at $16.27, which was a 2% decline on the day.

Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMP): Barclays lifted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight with a $59 price objective. The consensus target is $56.87. Wednesday’s close was at $52.29.

Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLY): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $48 price target. The consensus target is $43.15. The stock closed Wednesday at $33.48, up over 6% for the day on the strong upgrade.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Citigroup’s downgraded was from Buy to Neutral with a $100 target price. The consensus target is $96.15. The stock closed on Wednesday at $96.58.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $25 target price. The consensus target is $18.88. The shares closed on Wednesday at $19.65, almost a 6% gain for the day on the upgrade.

Natera Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRA): The Raymond James upgrade was from Market Perform to Outperform with a $58 price target. The consensus target is higher at $73.08. Wednesday’s close was at $40.98.

Oatly Group AB (NASDAQ: OTLY): Mizuho upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral. It also raised its $2.50 target price to $6, well above the $3.98 consensus target. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $2.58, down 4% on the day despite the upgrade.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): D.A. Davidson began covering the software giant with a Neutral rating and an $85 target price. That is less than the $92.76 consensus target and Wednesday’s final print of $86.71.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): SMBC Nikko downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral, and it chopped its $95 target price to $75. The consensus target is $105.78. Wednesday’s $77.31 close was almost 4% lower on the day.

Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral came with a price target hike to $45 from $36. The consensus target is $38. The stock closed Wednesday at $37.27, which was up close to 5% on the upgrade.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its $54 target price to $69. The consensus target is $58.26. The shares closed Wednesday at $58.71, a 3% one-day gain.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $34 price target. The consensus target is up at $41.02. The stock closed on Wednesday at $39.71.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade was to Equal Weight from Overweight, and it has a $46 target price. The consensus target is $47.71. Wednesday’s close was at $46.06.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $37 target price. The consensus target is $37.51. The shares closed over 3% lower on Wednesday at $31.68.

Willis Towers Watson PLC (NASDAQ: WTW): Keefe Bruyette lifted its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $303 target price. The consensus target is just $257.64. The stock closed on Wednesday at $251.29.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI): Cowen downgraded the cooler heavyweight to Market Perform from Outperform. Its $47 target price is well below the $53.27 consensus figure. Wednesday’s close at $41.83 was down over 7% for the day on the downgrade and the very weak tape.

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Value stocks are outpacing growth stocks so far this year, and seven outstanding value stocks come with healthy and dependable dividends and offer slow and steady growth with the ability to weather economic storms.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BP, ConocoPhillips, Equity Residential, Exxon Mobil, Global Payments, Kroger, Microsoft, NRG Energy, RingCentral, Valero Energy, Wayfair, Wendy’s and Workday.

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