The futures were lower after a solid day across Wall Street in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. Better than expected retail sales data for January, which was the biggest one-month jump in almost two years, along with an improving (but still negative) Empire State Manufacturing print, helped get the risk-on party started. However, they are both seen as yet more tailwinds for the Federal Reserve to keep raising rates. Expectations and futures now see the potential for rate hikes in March, May and July, and the possibility for a terminal rate to end up close to 6%.

Treasury yields were up again across the curve on the strong retail data as the five-year note closed at 4.04% for the first time since mid-November. The inversion between the two-year paper and the 10-year note stayed intact, with the former closing at 4.64% (a three-month high) while the latter ended trading at 3.81%. The inversion indicates recession may be coming.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed the day lower after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a massive build of 16.3 million barrels for the week of February 10. That stunning jump compares with the prior week’s build of just 2.4 million barrels. This comes on the heels of an announced 25 million barrel withdrawal from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Natural gas finished the day lower, down close to 4%, at $2.47.

Gold traded lower yet again, as profit takers moved in on the precious metal, which posted an eight-month high in mid-January and has drifted lower ever since. Bitcoin had a huge day, as the cryptocurrency leader closed at $24,179, up almost 9%, much of which was attributed to some short covering.

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, February 16, 2023.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and nudged its $150 target price up to $155. Cowen maintained an Outperform rating and raised its target to $145 from $135, while UBS stayed with a Neutral rating and its $114 price target increased to $130. The consensus target is $124.76, for now. The stock closed on Wednesday at $137.01, which was up 13% on the day after a fourth-quarter earnings beat and some outstanding forward guidance.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform and cut its $100 target price to $85. The consensus target is $98.23. The shares closed over 10% lower on Wednesday at $78.65, despite an earnings beat.

Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): Barclays initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $100 target price. The consensus target is $100.28. The stock closed at $89.86 on Wednesday.
Bath & Bodyworks Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Citigroup’s downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price objective cut to $48 from $50. The consensus target is $51.28. Wednesday’s closing share price was $43.25.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) Gordon Haskett initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $46 target price. The consensus target is $48.23. Wednesday’s $49.07 close was up almost 3% on the day.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO): Deutsche Bank reiterated a Hold rating and Wells Fargo reiterated its Overweight rating. Yet, the former bumped its $62 price target to $63 while the latter trimmed its target from $70 to $68. The consensus target is $68.48, and Wednesday’s close was at $59.59.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): Though Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight, the analyst raised the $77 target price to $82. The consensus target is $81.35. The shares closed on Wednesday at $75.48.

Credo Technology Group Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRDO): Needham reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed its $18 target price to $15. The consensus target is $18.00, for now. The stock was crushed Wednesday, closing down 47% at $10.30 after a large customer cut purchases.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating but lifted its target price to $17 from $15. The consensus target is $20.57. The stock closed over 7% higher on Wednesday at $17.78, as gaming revenue exploded in 2022 and is expected to trend even higher this year.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL): A Sector Perform rating at RBC Capital Markets is now Outperform, and the $155 price target jumped to $185. The consensus target is $163.35. The shares ended Wednesday’s session at $163.95, up close to 4% on the day.

Entegris Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and boosted its $86 target price to $100. That compares with a $99.27 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $87.04.

Frontier Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ULCC): Melius cut its Overweight rating on the carrier to Neutral. Its $13 target price is less than the $18.13 consensus target. Wednesday’s closing share price was $11.47.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ: GFS): Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its target price to $80 from $75. Needham reiterated a Buy rating, and its prior $72 target price is now $80. The consensus target is $73.80. The stock closed Wednesday at $69.92.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $60 target price. The consensus target is $59.81, and Wednesday’s final trade was for $50.53 a share.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR): Evercore ISI downgraded the shares to In Line from Outperform. Its $180 target price is higher than the $176.89 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $180.59.
Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLY): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is just $45.71, and Wednesday’s close was at $47.02.

Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $74 target price. The consensus target is higher at $81.60, but the stock closed on Wednesday at $70.01. That was down almost 4% for the day despite posting solid fourth-quarter results.

SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating, and its $7 target price is likely to go higher soon, as the consensus target is $7.58 and the shares ended Wednesday at $7.25. That was up close to 8% on the day, as Wall Street has turned quite positive on the company.

Sony Group Corp. (NYSE: SONY): Zacks named this Japanese conglomerate as its Bull of the Day stock. The analyst makes the case for earnings and sales growth to return next year. Shares last closed at $88.42, and the consensus price target of $133.55 would be a 52-week high.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): Melius reduced its Overweight rating to Neutral with a $39 target price. That compares with the $45.56 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing price of $35.72 a share.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $275 price target. The consensus target is lower at $186.61, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $214.24. That was up over 2% for the day.

Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST): Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $24 target price. The consensus target is $14.92. The final trade on Wednesday came in at $21.59, which was up 28% for the day despite a fourth-quarter loss as revenue jumped.

U.S. Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: USB): Piper Sandler lifted its Neutral rating to Overweight, and the $54 target price increased to $57. The consensus target is $55.20, and Wednesday’s close was at $49.08.

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Some top Wall Street strategists believe the current rally could be the high point for the year. If so, it may be time for investors to shift to safer, high-dividend stocks that provide the best total return proposition for the rest of 2023.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Ally Financial, Applied Materials, CrowdStrike, Fidelity National Information Services, First Solar, Fortinet, Newmont, Occidental Petroleum, Palo Alto Networks, Take-Two Interactive Software, Trade Desk, Twilio and Zscaler.

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