The futures traded lower in what will be a busy week for economic data on Wall Street. The major indexes finished Monday mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the only loser on the day, and barely one at that. It was down just 0.03% to close at 12,804. Top strategists will be watching closely as the consumer price index numbers and the Federal Open Market Committee minutes drop Wednesday, while the producer price index and initial jobless claims come in Thursday.

The big banks will mark the unofficial kick-off for the first-quarter earnings reporting parade on Friday. While the money center leaders should be able to deliver predictable results, the smaller regional banks will be watched closely, as many lost huge deposits after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

One of the flies in the equity market ointment Monday was that interest rates across the Treasury curve jumped sharply higher on Monday, especially on the short end. The two-year note crossed back over 4% to end the day at 4.01%, and the five-year note yield jumped a stunning 16 basis points. The inversion with the 10-year note tightened as the benchmark paper finished the session at 3.42%. The inversion suggests the potential for recession.

After a big week last week, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished Monday modestly lower. This came despite chatter across Wall Street that energy giant Exxon Mobil was in acquisition discussions with Permian Basin leader Pioneer Natural Resources. This would mark the energy giant’s biggest deal since the merger with Mobil in 1999. Natural gas finished the day at $2.17, up over 8% for the day.

Gold dropped almost 1% on Monday, falling back below the $2,000 level to close at $1,992, after a strong move over the past few weeks. Bitcoin was a winner Monday, closing up over 3% at $29,232.

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, April 11, 2023.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line and has a $36 target price. The consensus target is $34.39. The stock closed on Monday at $31.85.

AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB): Evercore ISI raised its In Line rating to Outperform with a $194 target price. The consensus target is $184.19, and the stock closed on Monday at $168.62.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its $90 target price to $75. The consensus target is $94.75. Monday’s closing share price was $66.36.

Booking Holings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): This travel website operator is the Zacks Bull of the Day stock, with the analyst making the case that it should outperform over the next 6 to 12 months. The shares last closed at $2,572.57 apiece, and the $2,773.85 consensus price target would be an all-time high.
Catalent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT): Deutsche Bank’s upgrade was to Buy from Hold, and the analyst raised the $56 target price to $88. The consensus target is $77.92. The stock closed more than 3% higher on Monday at $67.26.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $130 target price. The consensus target is $114.88. Monday’s $77.54 close was up 3% on the day.

Cushman & Wakefield PLC (NYSE: CWK): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Its $15 target price dropped to $11.50, even lower than the $16.79 consensus target. The last trade for Monday came in at $9.60, which was down more than 2.5% for the day on the downgrade.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock from Outperform to In Line with a $236 target price. The consensus target is $238.05. The shares ended trading on Monday at $210.77.

Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR): BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $50 target price. The consensus target is $50.78. The stock closed on Monday at $35.05.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and kept its $65 target price. The consensus target is $60.94. Monday’s close at $49.82 was up over 3% for the day.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS): Stifel lowered its $73 target price on the Buy-rated toymaker to $68. The consensus target is $70.30. The shares finished Monday at $52.21.

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) The RBC Capital Markets downgrade to Sector Perform from Outperform included a target price trim to $79 from $81. The consensus target is $88.94. The stock closed on Monday at $73.93.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $476 target price. The consensus target is $484.87. The shares closed on Monday at $444.72.

Kemper Corp. (NYSE: KMPR): Credit Suisse’s upgrade was to Outperform from Neutral, and its $56 target price is now $78. The consensus target is $70.20. On Monday, shares closed at $57.69.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Northcoast upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $321 target price. The consensus target is just $295.84. Monday’s close was at $283.78.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): Stifel upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $75 price objective. The consensus target is $71.63. The stock closed at $65.05 on Monday.
New Fortress Energy Inc. (NYSE: NFE): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is $71.63. Monday’s final trade was for $65.05 a share.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS): though J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight, it also trimmed its $97 target price to $96.50. The consensus target is $97, and shares closed on Monday at $87.74.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD): Stifel lowered its $293 target price to $286. The consensus target is $256.45. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Monday due to the acquisition chatter.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF): UBS upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $21 target price. The consensus target is $23.37. The stock closed on Monday at $18.41.

Southwestern Energy Inc. (NYSE: SWN): Siebert Williams Shank started coverage with a Hold rating and a $6 target price. The consensus target is $8.38. Monday’s close at $5.28 was up over 5% on the day.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN): Zacks pointed to headwinds that meat producers face as it named this one its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $99.54 in the past year but closed most recently at $61.05, which is down about 7% in the past 90 days.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NYSE: WBD): Truist Financial initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $19 target price. The consensus target is $21.18. Monday’s close was at $15.40.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY): As D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, its $34 target price was nudged up to $35. The consensus target is $36.60. Monday’s close was at $30.43.

Xometry Inc. (NASDAQ: XMTR): JMP Securities started coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $20 price target. The consensus target is $28.89. The positive coverage had shares closing at $14.96 on Monday, up 10% for the day.

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A wave of mergers and acquisitions in the energy space may be starting, and these five top exploration and production companies could be swallowed up next. Plus, they all pay solid dividends while investors wait and see.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Comerica, Datadog, FedEx, Ferrari, Leslie’s, Monster Beverage, Mosaic, Pinterest, Pure Storage, Skyworks Solutions, Toast, Wells Fargo and Welltower.

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