The futures were higher to open the new trading week, following Friday’s action that saw the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 finish higher, while the Nasdaq was the loser on the day. Despite the solid close, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished their worst week since December, and with earnings winding down, and expectations going forward being tempered lower, this week could bring yet another tug-of-war between the bulls and the bears.

Treasury yields jumped higher across the curve to finish a week of selling with the five-, 10- and 30-year paper all ending at highs for the week and moving back toward the levels printed at the end of 2022. With the short two-year note closing at 4.53% (also a multiweek high), the inversion with the 10-year remains at the widest spread since 1981, a sign recession may be on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were the big winners on Friday after Russia announced it would be cutting production by a stunning 500,000 barrels per day starting in March to boost prices in response to sanctions and dwindling revenue. The two major benchmarks both closed the day up over 2%.

Natural gas joined the energy party, closing up over 3% at $2.51. Gold ended modestly higher on the day, while Bitcoin was down for the third day in a row, over 1%, as the cryptocurrency giant finished the day at $21,564.

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 Monday, February 13, 2023.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV): SVB Securities upgraded the stock to Market Perform from Underperform and lifted its $135 target price to $153. The posted consensus target is $163.38, and the stock closed on Friday at $152.05.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, and its $46 price target plummeted to $15. The consensus target is $16.49. The stock closed down another 7% on Friday, after posting horrible results last week.

Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH): RBC Capital Markets cut its Outperform rating to Sector Perform, and cut its $81 target price dropped to $68, near the $68.14 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $64.15.

Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE): J.P. Morgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight. The analyst also trimmed the $29 target price to $27, below the $29.10 consensus target. Friday’s close was at $24.05.
Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA): Zacks named this air transportation provider as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst makes the case that the shares are destined to move higher. The stock last closed at $91.61 a share, and the $114.00 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.

Coursera Inc. (NYSE: COUR): Cantor Fitzgerald’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price trim to $16 from $17. The consensus target is $18.54 for now. Friday’s final trade at $13.42 was down almost 10% for the day after it posted a fourth-quarter loss, despite revenue topping estimates.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE): Gordon Haskett lifted its Accumulate rating to Buy and boosted its $190 target price to $240. The consensus target is $202.87. The stock closed on Friday at $201.64.

FREYR Battery Inc. (NASDAQ: FREY): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $13 target price. The consensus target is higher at $18, and Friday’s close was at $8.62.

Globus Medical Inc. (NYSE: GMED): When Loop Capital downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, it also cut its $90 price target to $70. The consensus target is $78.29. The shares ended Friday’s session at $60.28, down over 4% for the day after offering to merge with NuVasive.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF): Although BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform, it also cut its $121 target price to $106. The consensus target is $119.22. Friday’s $94.82 close was up almost 4% on the day after solid fourth-quarter results.

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (NYSE: IPG): MoffettNathanson’s downgrade was to Market Perform from Outperform, its $36 price target was nudged up to $37. The consensus target is $37.70, and shares closed on Friday at $37.13.

Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE): As the Buy rating at B. Reilly Securities dropped to Neutral, the $90 target price tumbled to $66. The consensus target is $72.37. Friday’s close was at $59.40.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT): As Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, it cut its $21.25 target price to $13. Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral, and its $45 target price is now $17. The consensus target was last seen at $22.07. The stock was massacred Friday, closing down 36% at $10.31 after dreadful earnings and guidance.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Mizuho upgraded the chip giant to Buy from Neutral. The firm also raised its $48 target price to $72, well above the $64.26 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $59.82.

Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR): Citing slower growth, poor price action and potentially higher input costs, Zacks selected this stock as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $117.25 in the past year but closed most recently at $80.06. That is down more than 13% from six months ago.
NuVasive Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. Its $57.72 target is well above the consensus target of $48.27. The last trade Friday was reported at $44.40, which was down close to 6% on the day despite a merger offer at $58 per share.

Seagate Technology Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: STX): As Mizuho raised its Neutral rating to Buy its $62 target price swelled to $82. The consensus target is $64.26. The shares closed on Friday at $59.82.

Tapestry Inc. (NYSE: TPR): Goldman Sachs increased its $44 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $50. The consensus target is $47.30. Friday’s final trade was for $44.44 a share.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): Gordon Haskett upgraded the stock to Buy from Accumulate and boosted the target price to $255 from $135. The consensus target is $246.83. Friday’s close was at $233.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC): Stifel upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. Its $30 target price compares with a $29.97 consensus target and the most recent close at $26.27.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Gordon Haskett’s upgrade to Accumulate from Hold came with a target price hike to $155 from $145. The consensus target is $161.50. Friday’s closing share price was $143.72.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC): Mizuho raised its Neutral rating to Buy, and its $38 target price is now $50. The consensus target is up at $64.26 though. The shares closed almost 3% higher on Friday at $43.01.

XPO Inc. (NYSE: XPO): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a price target trim to $40 from $42. The consensus target is higher at $49.64. Friday’s close at $35.22 was down 7% on the day following posting disappointing results.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP): The $32 Goldman Sachs target price on the Neutral-rated stock was boosted to $37. That compares the $33.67 consensus target and Friday’s last trade of $31.84, up over 3% on the day after a stellar quarterly earnings report.

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Given last week’s surprise Russian oil production cut announcement, there are six outstanding oil stocks offering large and dependable dividends and solid upside potential that investors may want to consider for the rest of this year and beyond.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Affirm, Bank of America, Biogen, Bunge, Coupang, DraftKings, Kosmos Energy, Mattel, Nucor, Nvidia, SentinelOne, SunPower, Vale and Walt Disney.

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