The futures were lower on Wednesday after yet another rollercoaster trading day in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. The big catalyst was Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell’s appearance at the Economic Club of Washington. He noted that, while the 2% inflation target remains in place, the disinflationary pressures had begun and were subsiding, though they had a long way to go. That initially sparked a rally, which soon faded, but it roared back in the afternoon despite Powell indicating that more rate hikes were on the way.

Treasury yields were up across the curve, but nothing like we what saw on Monday and last Friday, when the sellers came in big. Powell’s measured tone and some selling exhaustion slowed the pace Tuesday. The 10-year note closed at 3.67%, up from a 3.39% yield a week ago. The two-year yield also bolted higher and closed Tuesday at 4.47%, so the highest inversion in over 40 years remains in place. Such inversions had signaled recession in the past.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were the big winners Tuesday, as both of the energy complex benchmarks closed the day strongly, the former up 3.9% and the latter 4.7% higher. Industry analysts cited production interruptions from the horrific earthquake in Turkey. That combined with more indications of a China reopening also fueled the solid move. Natural gas joined in, closing up 6%, after being battered since the start of the year.

Gold and Bitcoin finished the day on the plus side as well, with the cryptocurrency jumping 1.9% on Tuesday, back over the $23,000 level. Gold analysts have continued to cite the massive buying of bullion by central banks around the world as a reason for the continued strength.

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 Tuesday, February 7, 2023.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Loop Capital initiated coverage of the shares with a Hold rating and a $91 target price. The consensus target is $99.25, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $88.16 a share.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Jefferies reiterated an Outperform rating with a $62 price objective. The consensus target is $53.73. Tuesday’s closing share price was $53.24.

BigCommerce Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BIGC): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $12 from $16. The consensus target is $14.29 for now. The shares closed on Tuesday at $11.50, which was down almost 4% due to the downgrade.
Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE): Telsey Advisory downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform. The firm also lowered its $50 target price to $46, the same as the consensus target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $45.53.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $52 price target. The consensus target is $61.61. The shares closed on Tuesday at $58.37, which was up over 3% on the day.

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC): Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst makes the case that shares continue to display relative strength as buying pressure accumulates in this market leader. The stock most recently closed at $57.04, which is up about 18% year to date.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK): BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $515 target price. The consensus target is lower at $484, and the stock ended Tuesday’s session at $417.61 a share.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $55 price objective. The consensus target is just $41.94. Tuesday’s final trade was for $46.07 per share.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $66 target price. The consensus target is $64.17. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Tuesday at $53.78.

Holley Inc. (NYSE: HLLY): Telsey Advisory’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform came with a target price cut to $3 from $5. The consensus target is $5.44 for now. The stock closed on Tuesday at $2.36, which was down a stunning 31% after posting disappointing results and guidance.

Intapp Inc. (NASDAQ: INTA): BofA Securities reiterated its Buy rating and has a $37 target price. The consensus figure is $30.00, but the stock closed on Tuesday at $33.51, a one-day gain of 18% in the wake of impressive quarterly results.

iRhythm Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: IRTC): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $150 target price. The consensus target is $145.13. The shares closed on Tuesday at $108.72, up close to 3% on the day.

Kemper Corp. (NASDAQ: KMPR): The Outperform rating at Raymond James is now Strong Buy, and the $60 target price rose to $80. The $65.80 consensus target is less than the $68.05 close on Tuesday, which was up almost 10% for the day due to outstanding quarterly results.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT): Credit Suisse raised its Underperform rating to Outperform and boosted its $427 target price to $510. The consensus target is $487.67. Tuesday’s final trade was for $468.33 a share.

New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NFE): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating with a $67 target price. The consensus target is $63.00. The shares closed over 4% higher on Tuesday at $40.53 on positive analyst comments.

On Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON): Goldman Sachs raised its $73 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $82. The consensus target is up at $85.63. Tuesday’s $85.53 close up over 6% for the day on solid fourth-quarter results.
Ovintiv Inc. (NYSE: OVV): The Zacks Bear of the Day stock has lost traction amid commodity price drops, says the analyst. Shares have traded as high as $63.30 in the past year but closed most recently at $47.18. That is down about 7% year to date.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT): Piper Sander’s downgrade was to Neutral from Overweight, and the analyst trimmed the $16 target price to $15. The consensus target is $14.85. The stock closed on Tuesday at $14.47.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): The Daiwa Securities upgrade was from Neutral to Outperform with a $51 target price. The consensus target is $52.77, and the stock ended Tuesday trading at $43.59.

SJW Group (NYSE: SJW): J.P. Morgan’s downgraded was to Neutral from Overweight. It also trimmed its $86 target price to $84, below the $85.25 consensus estimate. The stock closed at $78.87 on Tuesday.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ: SKWD): Truist Financial started coverage of this recently successful initial public offering with a Buy rating and a $26 target. Raymond James started coverage with a Strong Buy rating and has a 22 target, while Piper Sandler began coverage with an Overweight rating and a $23 target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $19.70, up close to 3% for the day on the positive initiations.

Sweetgreen Inc. (NYSE: SG): When Cowen downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform, it also cut its $19 price target to $12, which is less than the $15.00 consensus target. The stock closed on Tuesday at $10.88.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO): Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and has a $145 price target. The consensus target is lower at $133.49. Wednesday’s $113.85 close was up almost 8% for the day on strong earnings.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN): Goldman Sachs cut its Buy rating to Neutral and slashed its $91 price target to $66. The consensus target is $74.33. The stock closed on Tuesday at $61.41.

ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ZI): As UBS downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral, its $34 target price ticked down to $33. The consensus target is $38.98, and shares closed 5% higher on Tuesday at $30.24 despite the downgrade.

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Six mega-cap energy stocks look like very tempting buys now, after the domestic and foreign sector leaders posted stellar fourth-quarter results and with the seasonal tailwind for the sector right around the corner.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Archer Daniels Midland, Boeing, Dow, LyondellBasell Industries, Netflix, Splunk, Spotify Technology, T-Mobile, Vale and Walmart.

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