The futures traded lower on Friday, approaching the end of a volatile holiday-shortened week that saw all the major indexes finish the day higher on Thursday. The second print for fourth-quarter gross domestic product came in at 2.7%, versus the initial 2.9%, but the big news Friday is the PCE inflation number for January that came in higher than estimates. As this is one of the top metrics used by Fed Chair Powell for policy decisions, it all but assures more rate increases are on the way.

Treasury yields were lower across the curve, after spiking higher over the past week. With the one-year T-bill trading above 5%, that rate is now higher than the dividend paid by all but 20 of the companies in the S&P 500. The inversion between the 10-year note, which closed at 3.88%, and the two-year debt, which closed at 4.70%, remained in place. Many feel that not only are rates going higher but they will remain there for longer.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed Thursday almost 2.5% higher, after a dreadful stretch over the past week that included a 3% drop on Wednesday. Growth in India and the Chinese demand factor still continue to guide benchmark pricing higher, and many feel that demand will increase as the weather warms. Natural gas, which has been crushed, also finished higher, up almost 4% at $2.25. Gold ended the day higher, while Bitcoin closed lower at $23,932, as the cryptocurrency giant has plunged over $1,000 from highs posted earlier this week.

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 Friday, February 24, 2023.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $110 target price. The consensus target is lower at $96.71. The shares closed almost 3% higher on Thursday at $93.34.

AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and slashed its $59 price target to $16. The consensus target is $23.29. The stock closed on Thursday at $14.49, which was down close to 5%.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM): Zacks pointed to competition and supply chain setbacks as it named this its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $422.75 in the past year but closed most recently at $336.03. Its $313.43 consensus price target suggests more than 6% further downside.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): Truist Financial resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $66 target price. The consensus target is $61.71, and the stock closed on Thursday at $69.13.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL): Guggenheim raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $255 target price. The consensus target is $263.08. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Thursday at $227.27 on the upgrade.
Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Neutral from Underperform included a target price hike to $12 from $9. The consensus target is higher at $14.33. Thursday’s closing share price was $13.08.

Clear Secure Inc. (NYSE: YOU): Needham initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $32.50. Thursday’s $29.95 close was a one-day gain of over 6% on the coverage.

Cognex Corp. (NASDAQ: CGNX): As Credit Suisse lifted its Underperform rating to Neutral, its price target grew to $44 from $41. The consensus target is $50.71. Thursday’s final trade was reported at $46.84.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $200 target and called the stock its best large-cap idea. The consensus target is just $178.24. Thursday’s close at $141.60 was a 3% gain on the day.

DT Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DTM): Citigroup upgraded the shares from Sell to Neutral with a $54 target price. The consensus target is $59.86. The closing share price on Thursday was $51.29.

Enovix Corp. (NASDAQ: ENVX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $36 target price is well above the $30.50 consensus target. The shares closed on Thursday at $9.27, which was up almost 12% for the day after every positive corporate commentary.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Goldman Sachs raised its $130 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $147. The consensus target is $131.32. Shares ended Thursday trading at $131.58.

Federal Signal Corp. (NYSE: FSS): Sidoti’s downgrade was from Buy to Neutral with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $50.60, but the stock closed on Thursday at $53.52.

Fiverr International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FVRR): The prior $33 price target at Goldman Sachs on the Hold-rated shares is now to $47. The consensus target is $45.33. The stock closed down over 5% on Thursday at $42.46.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co. (NYSE: GPK): Citing its value, stable growth, dividends and a market-topping performance, Zacks selected this stock as its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $23.56, which is up more than 19% from a year ago.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $400 target price compares with a consensus target of $327.50 and Thursday’s close at $299.37.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Though Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight, it also shaved its $29.50 target price to $28. The consensus target is $27.55. The last trade for Thursday came in at $25.61.
Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID): As BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, the firm cut its $18 price target to $10. The consensus target is $14.18 for now. The close on Thursday at $8.79 was down almost 12% on the day after fourth-quarter revenue missed estimates.

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and boosted its $240 target price to $256. The consensus target is $258.87. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $213.46.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): When Goldman Sachs upgraded the chip giant to Buy from Neutral, its $162 target price jumped to $275. The consensus target is $214.41 for now. Thursday’s close at $236.64 was up 14% on the day after it posted a fourth-quarter earnings beat and touted rising trends in AI.

Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ROP): Wolfe Research hiked its Peer Perform rating to Outperform with a $480 price objective. The consensus target is $491.82. The stock closed on Thursday at $431.03.

Teladoc Health Inc. (NYSE: TDOC): SVB Securities upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $34 target price. The consensus target is $31.68 for now. The stock closed almost 7% lower on Thursday at $27.43 in the wake of a fourth-quarter loss.

TPI Composites Inc. (NASDAQ: TPIC): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Underperform. The analyst also lifted the $9 target price to $14, which is still less than the $16.50 consensus target. The stock closed up 18% on Thursday at $14.08 after the double upgrade.

Walgreen Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $45 target price. The consensus target is $41.32. The stock closed on Thursday at $36.21.

Wix.com Ltd. (NYSE: WIX): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight and boosted the target price to $99 from $80. The consensus target is $102.88. Thursday’s close was at $92.84.

Workday Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. It also raised its $205 target price to $220, even further above the $203.27 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $187.21.

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Seven top Dividend Aristocrats with among the largest dividends are stocks that retirement-focused investors can buy now and hold forever. They are trading at very reasonable levels and offer outstanding total return potential.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alcoa, American International Group, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Coinbase Global, GitLab, Home Depot, Merck, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, Occidental Petroleum, Okta, Salesforce, Shopify, Sirius XM and Target.

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