The futures were higher after a mixed start to the trading week following last Friday’s big across-the-board stock rally. The Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 closed higher on Monday, while the Nasdaq and the Russell 2000 finished the day lower. This week and next are full of market-moving data and plenty of Federal Reserve talk, with Chair Powell’s semiannual monetary policy presentation Tuesday and Wednesday, the February nonfarm payrolls on Friday, and the February consumer price index reading on March 14. All of these could contain the ammunition to fuel either a continuation of the buying or a return of the sellers.

Treasury yields were modestly higher across the curve on Monday, as the sellers returned after last Friday’s rally. The selling pushed the 10-year benchmark note and the 30-year-long bond yields back closer to the 4% level. While the 10-year closed at 3.98% on Monday, the inversion with the two-year paper remained as the latter closed at 4.89%. Bond market pros see the anomaly between the two securities as a potential recession sign.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed higher again, after surging 4% last week. Analysts cited the potential discord among OPEC members (and the possibility of the UAE leaving the cartel) as a possible reason for the volatility on Monday. Natural gas was hammered, closing down over 13% at $2.60. Gold and Bitcoin both finished lower on Monday.

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, March 7, 2023.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $375 target price. The consensus target is $336.22. The stock closed on Monday at $335.80.

Altria Group Inc. (MYSE: MO): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $49.65, and shares closed at $47.19 on Monday.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Goldman Sachs had the big call of the day, starting coverage of the technology giant with a Buy rating and a $199 target price. The consensus target is $168.34. The stock ended Monday trading at $153.83.

Avid Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID): Truist Financial initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Its $45 target price is well above the $35.40 consensus target. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Monday at $29.80.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target cut from $107 to $102.50. The consensus target is $109.40. The shares closed on Monday at $91.46.

Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NYSE: ETRN): BofA Securities kept an Underperform rating but lowered its $7 target price to $6. The consensus target is $7.90. The shares closed on Monday at $6.05, down close to 4% for the day despite reporting solid revenue results.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $72 target price, noting that it believes that Fortinet is a leading cybersecurity platform vendor that should benefit from consolidating spending, especially given the price/performance advantage its solutions provide. The consensus target is $69.32. The shares closed on Monday at $61.31.

General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE): BofA Securities raised its $92 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $96. The consensus target is $87.34. Monday’s close was at $87.06.

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (NYSE: HGV): Truist Financial lifted its $62 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $75. The consensus target is just $64.00, and shares ended Monday trading at $50.21. That was more than 5% higher on the day, after posting solid results late last week.

Inspire Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE: INSP): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $330 target price. The consensus target is $305.89. The stock closed on Monday at $266.07.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH): J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Overweight and reduced its $36 target price to $32.50. The $40.83 consensus target is higher, and Monday’s final trade was for $34.99 a share.

Lantheus Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LNTH): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating with a $94 target price. The consensus target is higher at $106.71. Monday’s closing share price was $73.00.

Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) J.P. Morgan upgraded the company to Overweight from Neutral and has a $129 target price. The consensus is set higher at $137. The last trade Monday came in at $109.26.

Nestle S.A. (NSRGY): RBC Capital Markets downgraded shares to Underperform from Sector Perform. The target price dropped from $100 to $95, well below the $132 consensus target. The over-the-counter traded shares ended on Monday at $112.57 apiece.

Nextracker Inc. (NYSE: NXT): Credit Suisse started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $36 target price. No consensus target was available as the stock had a recent initial public offering. Monday’s final trade was for $32.45 a share.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Zacks makes the case that earnings momentum could take its Bull of the Day stock to all-time highs. Shares of this cybersecurity leader last closed at $187.91, and the $221.71 consensus price target would be an all-time high.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $43 target price. That compares with a $52.52 consensus target and Monday’s closing share price of $41.11.

Prometheus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RXDX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $150 target price. The consensus target is $156. Monday’s $122.55 closed was down almost 3% on the day.

Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE: RHP): Truist Financial raised its $104 target price to $115 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $104.00. The shares closed on Monday at $96.07.

Silvergate Capital Corp. (NYSE: SI): Wedbush lowered its Neutral rating to Underperform and cut the $9 target price in half to $4. The consensus target is $11.13. The shares closed on Monday at $5.41, down over 6% for the day, as the negative crypto issues continue.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $230 target price after assessing the company’s investors day data from last week. The consensus target is $195.74. The last trade on Monday was for $193.81 a share, down 2% on the day.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $46 target price. The consensus target is $44.84. Monday’s close was at $38.15.

Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ: VIR): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral. The analyst also trimmed the $35 target price to $34, while the consensus target is up at $53.71. The stock closed on Monday at $23.09.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI): Citing disappointing earnings guidance and falling estimates, Zacks selected this outdoor goods maker as its Bear of the Day. Shares have traded as high as $65.46 in the past year but closed most recently at $38.51, after retreating more than 16% in the past month.

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Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and, as with all innovations, mega-cap technology companies with deep pockets are likely to benefit first. Five of those big tech stocks have been hit hard and are offering the best entry points in years and unlimited potential.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Broadcom, Costco Wholesale, C3.ai, Deere, First Solar, Hormel Foods, Kroger, Lowe’s Companies, Marvell Technology, Procter & Gamble, Range Resources and Zscaler.

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