The futures traded higher on Thursday, after a solid Wednesday in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. Top strategists cited numerous reasons behind the mid-week gains, including Alibaba announcing its split into six different companies and strength in tech from China, and the return of former UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti to the bank, who will be charged with the enormous task of integrating Credit Suisse, which UBS acquired for $3.2 billion earlier this month to keep it from failing.

Treasury yields were flat across the curve Wednesday, which also provided a tailwind for stocks after jumping higher over the past few trading days. The two-year paper closed the day at 4.10%, and the 10-year note ended at 3.57%. The inversion between the two is considered a sign of an impending recession, and while the spread tightened noticeably last week, it is starting to widen again.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both halted their climb higher this week, as each of the oil benchmarks closed lower despite the fact that the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced a large crude inventory draw of 7.5 million barrels for the week up to March 21. Natural gas finished the day lower again, closing at $1.98.

Gold closed lower as stocks rallied and profit takers stepped in after a very strong run over the past few weeks. The big winner Wednesday was Bitcoin which closed up over 4% on the day at $28,406. Analysts cited a big short squeeze on the cryptocurrency giant as one major reason for the rally.

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, March 30, 2023.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $117 target price. The consensus target is up at $123.97, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $98.63.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Zacks makes the case that its Bull of the Day is a “stealth” chip stock to own for the AI revolution. Shares last closed at $206.00, and its consensus price target of $216.57 would be an all-time high.

Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL): Susquehanna raised its Neutral rating to Positive and has an $11 price target. The consensus target is $10.68. The shares closed almost 6% higher on Wednesday at $9.89 after posting solid results this week.

Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut its $59 target price to $57. The consensus target is $63.64 for now. The stock closed on Tuesday at $51.34.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE): Daiwa Securities started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $440 target. The consensus target is $471.82. The shares closed at $400.86 on Wednesday.

Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK): As Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it lowered its $33 target price to $24. The consensus target is $30.83. The stock closed on Wednesday at $23.15.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $40 target, which is lower than the $52.00 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $33.32.

DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM): UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $182 price target. The consensus target is $132.74. The stock closed on Wednesday at $113.96.

Enovix Corp. (NASDAQ: ENVX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $36 target price is well above the $29.64 consensus target. The shares closed on Wednesday at $13.65, which was up almost 12% on the day after positive corporate commentary.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC): Citing the outcome for Silicon Valley Bank, Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $171.09 in the past year but closed most recently at $14.26. That is down more than 88% year to date.

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB): Mizuho initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $38 price target. The consensus target is up at $50.38, but Wednesday’s closing print was $33.58.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG): The Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs is now at Buy. The firm’s $84 target price compares with an $87.25 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $69.58.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Underweight rating but raised its $230 target price to $255. The consensus target is $255.84. The stock closed on Wednesday at $252.59.

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (NYSE: IPG): The Exane BNP Paribas downgrade was from Outperform to Neutral with a $40 target price. The consensus target is $40.60. The stock closed on Wednesday at $35.31.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating, and its $278 target price is in the ballpark with the $278.37 consensus target. The stock closed on Wednesday at $250.76.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ): Credit Suisse lifted its Underperform rating to Neutral and nudged the $14.50 target price to $15. The consensus target is $18.04. Wednesday’s close was at $16.05.

Lovesac Co. (NASDAQ: LOVE): Roth MKM reiterated a Buy rating and bumped its $32 target price up to $36. The consensus target is up at $51.83. The stock closed over 5% higher on Wednesday at $28.41 following a solid earnings report.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $440 from $350. The consensus target is $372.82. Wednesday’s $361.04 close was up over 12% for the day in the wake of stellar results.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M): Gordon Haskett’s downgrade was from Accumulate to Hold with an $18 target price. The consensus target is $24.18. The shares closed on Wednesday at $17.31.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC): When Goldman Sachs raised its Neutral rating to Buy, the $132 target price increased to $150. The consensus target is $152.27. Shares closed at $134.10 on Wednesday.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): UBS downgraded the stock to Sell from Buy and slashed its $127 target price to $79. The consensus target is $91.18. The shares closed on Wednesday at $79.06.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Goldman Sachs boosted its $59 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $65. The consensus target is $65.04. The stock closed on Wednesday at $63.54, which was up over 7% on the day despite less-than-stellar results.

Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ: NXT): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral. Its $36 target price is now $40, above the $39.36 consensus target. Wednesday’s $33.54 close was up over 3% for the day on the upgrade.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the advertising giant to Neutral from Underperform. Its $96 target price is higher than the $93.60 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $90.45.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $28 target price to $32. The consensus target is just $19.50, below Wednesday’s close at $23.70.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS): Daiwa Securities upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and has a $17.30 target price. The $15.93 consensus target is closer to Wednesday’s close at $14.98.

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Many regional banks are well run and do not have the issues that the recently failed banks had. Six top regional banks pay dividends, and their shares are rated Buy at Goldman Sachs and hold some huge upside potential.

Meanwhile, see why J.P. Morgan has turned cool on oil refiners.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Array Technology, Blink Charging, Carnival, Carrier Global, DocuSign, Fox, Marathon Petroleum, Occidental Petroleum, PagSeguro Digital, Paramount Global, Salesforce, Viking Therapeutics and Williams Companies.

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