The futures traded mixed on Monday, as frazzled investors and traders got some good news when it was announced over the weekend that UBS purchased Credit Suisse for $3.3 billion. All the major indexes closed lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials leading the way, down over 1.2%. The song remains the same with the banking system amid fears of the potential for a spread of the contagion despite cash infusions from the major banks to prop up First Republic Bank, which may be up for sale after the bailout. All eyes now turn to the Federal Reserve meeting this week, and markets are pricing in a 90% chance that rates are raised by 25 basis points despite the turmoil.

Treasury yields plunged on Friday, as nervous investors rushed into the safe-haven debt again. The five-year note yield dropped a stunning 28 basis points, and longer maturity yields were down double digits as well. The yield on the two-year note fell 20 basis points to close at 3.94%, while the 10-year closed at 3.40%. The inversion with the two securities tightened again on Friday but still indicates that a recession is on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude ended a rough week Friday, as both of the benchmarks finished the day down almost 3%. With bearish sentiment firmly in place, oil closed the week down over 10%. Natural gas also closed down over 6% at $2.36%.

Gold was a big winner again on Friday, closing up almost 3% and closing back in on the $2,000 level, as worried investors kept the buying spree for the bullion in place. Bitcoin, not to be outdone, was a big winner to close the week, as the cryptocurrency giant closed up over 7% at $26, 882, a massive move after trading below $20,000 just over a week ago.

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, March 20, 2023.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the tech search giant to Outperform from Neutral and has a $123 target price. The consensus target is $124.23. The last trade on Friday was reported at $101.54.

Bill Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BILL): Baird initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and an $86 price target. The consensus is set much higher at $137.99. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Friday at $73.21.

Braze Inc. (NASDAQ: BRZE): As UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it cut its $40 price target to $35. The consensus target is $39.36. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Friday at $31.84 on the downgrade.

Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $24 price target. The consensus target is $27.24. The shares ended Friday trading at $19.86.
CareMax Inc. (NASDAQ: CMAX): TD Cowen’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a price target cut to $4 from $7. The consensus target is $8. The stock closed on Friday at $3.07, which was down 15% for the day on the downgrade.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB): J.P. Morgan lifted its Neutral rating to Overweight with a $239 target price. The consensus target is $245.39. The shares closed on Friday at $187.04.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): Gordon Haskett downgraded the popular discount retailer to Hold from Accumulate. It also sliced its $230 price target to $220, even further below the $243.85 consensus target. The shares closed on Friday at $207.54.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Goldman Sachs raised its $218 target price to $250 while keeping a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $209.81. Shares closed up 8% on Friday at $220.21 after the posting of stellar quarterly results.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC): Redburn raised its Neutral rating to Buy. Its $155 target price is well above the $143.26 consensus target and Friday’s close at $115.99.

GDS Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: GDS): Deutsche Bank’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $20 target price. The consensus target is up at $26.99. The stock closed on Friday at $16.20.

Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $80 target price to $90. The consensus target is $91. The stock closed on Friday at $78.68.

LivePerson Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN): Though Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform, it reduced its $8 target price to $5. The consensus target is $12.00. The stock ended Friday up almost 7% on the day to $4.42, despite missed earnings expectations.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $280 target price. The consensus target is $288.62. The stock closed on Friday at $278.51.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $140 target price. The consensus target is $129.88. Friday’s close was at $119.60.

NovaCure Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVCR): When J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral, it also slashed its $99 price target in half to $50. The consensus target is $103.43 for now. Friday’s final trade was for $56.85 was down almost 12% on the day. Big institutional selling was cited, as ownership is concentrated.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was to Overweight from Equal Weight, and its target price jumped from $255 to $304. The consensus target of $249.44 is below Friday’s closing print of $259.11.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $180 target price. The consensus target is $169.78. The stock retreated 17% on Friday to close at $124.40, after the FDA announced an advisory meeting on one of the company’s investigational gene therapy drugs.

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida (NASDAQ: SBCF): Hovde upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $33 target price. The consensus target is $35.54. The stock’s $24.68 close on Friday was down over 5% on the day.

Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP): Stifel resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $45 price target. The consensus target is $48.99. Friday’s last trade was for $44.97 a share.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF): Oppenheimer’s upgrade was from Perform to Outperform with a $35 price objective. The consensus target is $39.22. On Friday, the shares closed at $28.33.

Terex Inc. (NYSE: TEX): As BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, its price target dropped to $54 from $66. The consensus target is $60.69 for now. The stock closed on Friday at $45.72, down almost 8% for the day on the downgrade and the weak tape.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE: VEEV): Truist Financial downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and lowered its $205 target price to $195. The consensus target is $209.16. Friday’s close was at $172.01.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD): Wells Fargo upgraded the shares from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $20 target price. The consensus target is $20.90. The stock closed over 2% higher on Friday at $14.88.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS): CapitalOne initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $125 target price. The consensus target is up at $158.96. Friday’s close at $104.89 was down 3% on the day.

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Eight top safe-haven stocks, while not the most exciting, are likely to withstand a vicious market crash. Though they also would trade down if markets plummet, they may hold their ground better than volatile tech stocks and some other sectors.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Citigroup, FedEx, Foot Locker, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Medical Properties Trust, Nike, Qualcomm, Skyworks Solutions, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Under Armour.

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