Futures traded lower on Wednesday, after the stock market strung together a two-day winning streak on Tuesday, as all the major indexes finished the day higher. The sense that the financial liquidity contagion crisis has taken a positive turn in some areas has provided the wind behind investors’ backs so far this week. Toss in the fact that stocks were very oversold heading into the week has been a big positive as well.

The big event Wednesday on everybody’s radar is whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates yet again. The consensus across Wall Street is the Fed will forge ahead with another 25-basis-point hike, despite pleas from activist investor Bill Ackman and Elon Musk to pause.

Treasury yields were up again across the curve, as sellers returned for the second day in a row, pushing yields on shorter maturities up by double digits. The two-year note yield soared a stunning 26 basis points to close at 4.18%, after trading down to 3.80% last Friday. With the benchmark 10-year note closing at 3.61%, the inversion between the two securities widened again after closing at the tightest spread since last October.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both clawed out some big gains Tuesday, each closing up well over 2%, as increasing demand and ongoing supply disruptions took center stage as the financial contagion issues calmed. Natural gas was higher on the day, closing at $2.31. After a big run, gold cooled off, closing down over almost 2% at $1,940, while Bitcoin continued to march higher, finishing the day up 1.5% at $28,231. The cryptocurrency giant traded below $20,000 10 days 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 Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and has a $375 target price. The consensus target is $336.22. The stock closed on Tuesday at $335.80.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $130 target price. The consensus target is $124.85, and Tuesday’s close was at $104.94.

Armstrong World Industries Inc. (NYSE: AWI): Deutsche Bank lowered its Buy rating to Hold and its $92 target price to $77. The consensus target is $86.20. Tuesday’s close was at $69.38.
Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ): Keefe Bruyette upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $152 target price is less than the $157.80 consensus target. Shares ended Tuesday at $116.72, up 5% for the day on the upgrade.

BioMarin Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Bernstein started coverage with an Underperform rating and an $81 target. The consensus target is up at $122.52. The stock closed on Tuesday at $92.31.

Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $56 target price. The consensus target is $76.59. The stock closed over 4% higher on Tuesday at $54.04.

Chart Industries Inc. (NYSE: GTLS): Evercore ISI started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $217 target price. The consensus target is $192.33. Tuesday’s $116.14 close was up almost 7% on the day.

CONMED Corp. (NYSE: CNMD): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $96 target price. The consensus target is $112.17, and shares closed on Tuesday at $93.72.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $310 target price. The consensus target is $302.30. The stock closed on Tuesday at $247.07.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight included a target price bump to $96 from $95. The consensus target is $101.54. The shares ended Tuesday trading at $83.99.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $760 target price. The consensus target is $782.33, and shares closed on Tuesday at $675.96.

Fleetcor Technologies Inc. (NYSE: FLT): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $254 price objective is higher than the $240.56 consensus figure. The stock was last seen Tuesday trading at $208.27, up almost 5% for the day on the upgrade.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): The prior Neutral rating at Citigroup is now Buy, and the $47 target price rose to $50. Evercore ISI also upgraded the shares, to Outperform from In Line, and has a $60 price target. The consensus target is $43.68 for now. Better than expected quarterly results helped shares close at $42.53 on Wednesday, a one-day gain of nearly 7%.

GoDaddy Inc. (NASDAQ: GDDY): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and cut its $100 price target to $88. The consensus target is $95.49. On Tuesday, shares closed at $74.21.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $53.63. Tuesday’s $39.25 close was up over 5% for the day on the big upgrade.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): When Morgan Stanley boosted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight, its $190 target price increased to $250. The consensus target is $218. The shares closed on Tuesday at $200.96.
New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NYCB): D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Market Neutral. Its target price of $11.50 compares with the $10.36 consensus target and the most recent close at $9.15. That was up another 6.35% for the day after the FDIC announced a transfer of Signature Bank holdings to the bank.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) Exane BNP Paribas raised its Underperform rating to Neutral with a $230 target price. The consensus target is up at $254.08. Tuesday’s close was at $257.07.

Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $147 target price. The consensus target is $142.15. On Tuesday, shares closed at $118.35.

Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO): Zacks selected this miner as its Bull of the Day stock, with the analyst pointing out its value, growth and momentum. Shares last closed at $65.98, and the $73.89 consensus target signals nearly 12% upside potential.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $150 target price. The consensus target is $131.14. The shares closed on Tuesday at $109.36.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VEEV): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $225 target price. The consensus target is $208.76. The closing price on Tuesday was $175.01.

Vornado Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: VNO): As Piper Sandler lifted its Underweight rating to Neutral, the analyst trimmed the $18 target price to $16. The consensus target is $20.27. The stock closed up almost 6% Tuesday at $15.23 after the upgrade.

Wix.com Ltd. (NYSE: WIX): Piper Sandler’s Neutral rating is now at Overweight, and its $99 target price increased to $120. The consensus target is $105.94. Tuesday’s $95.60 closed up over 8% for the day on the upgrade.

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Six top gold stocks have pulled back some and come with respectable dividends, making them great ideas for worried investors looking to hedge inflation.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Conagra Brands, Dell Technologies, Dow, Electronic Arts, Enphase Energy, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, LyondellBasell Industries, New York Community Bancorp, Prologis, Sea, UBS, U.S. Bancorp and WestRock.

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