The futures traded higher on Wednesday after the consumer price index numbers for March came in essentially in line with estimates. Almost all the major indexes finished Tuesday higher, with only the Nasdaq closing the day lower. With more data on the calendar for this week, and first-quarter earnings reporting set to kick off Friday with the big banks, the swaps market is currently projecting an 80% chance that the Federal Reserve will raise rates for perhaps the final time in early May, with a possible terminal rate at 5.00% to 5.25% which would be the highest level since 2007.
Treasury rates closed slightly higher Tuesday across the curve in front of Wednesday’s inflation data, and once again the bigger increases were on the short end. The two-year note closed trading at 4.06%, while the 10-year paper closed at 3.43%. The inversion between the two, along with a collapse in the money supply growth, signals the potential for recession.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude rebounded nicely Tuesday after a couple of days of light selling. WTI led the way, closing up 2.25% at $81.53. While the job growth numbers and a strengthening dollar sapped the oil rally from the past few weeks, Russian production cuts and optimism over increasing demand were cited for the strength Tuesday. Natural gas closed modestly higher at $2.19.
Gold closed higher Tuesday to finish the day back over the $2,000 level at $2,004. The big story continues to be the parabolic move higher for Bitcoin, which finished the day at $30,239, up almost 2% on the day, and a stunning 82% higher since the beginning of the year.
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, April 12, 2023.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and has a $93 target price. The consensus target is $93.05. The stock closed on Tuesday at $80.72.
Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, and it cut its $32 target price to $25. The consensus target is $34.15. The stock closed on Tuesday at $24.33.
Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $27.24. The shares closed up almost 7% on Tuesday at $21.54 after the upgrade.
Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $27.12. The stock closed on Tuesday at $18.55.
Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): JMP Securities started coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $50 target price. The consensus target is $45.45. Tuesday’s close was at $35.58.
EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT): Truist Financial’s downgrade to Hold from Buy included a price target cut to $28 from $41. The consensus target is up at $46.63. The shares closed on Tuesday at $33.42.
GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $95 target price. The consensus target is $94.49. The shares closed on Tuesday at $76.72.
Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE: LEG): As Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, its $39 price target was lowered to $34. The consensus target is $31.67. The shares closed on Tuesday at $31.52.
LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC): J.P. Morgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and an $11 target price. The consensus target is $11.86. The shares closed 4% higher on Tuesday at $7.15 after the upgrade.
Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $50 target. The consensus target is $61.68. The stock closed on Tuesday at $36.10.
MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG): Compass Point upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Its $18 target price compares with a $16.19 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $13.76, which was up almost 4% on the day.
Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR): Truist Financial raised its Hold rating to Buy. It also raised its $49 target price to $56, well above the $49.36 consensus target. The shares ended Tuesday trading at $39.50.
24/7 Wall St.Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and its $70 target price dropped to $60. The consensus target is $64.31. Tuesday’s close was at $54.35.
New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has an $11 target price. The consensus target is $10.98. The stock closed over 3% higher on Tuesday at $9.06.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock, citing the growing importance of cybersecurity. Shares last closed at $192.81, and the $222.03 consensus target price would be an all-time high.
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN): Compass Point upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy with a $29 target price. The consensus target is $24.36. The upgrade and positive comments helped the stock close at $23.11, a gain of almost 6% on the day.
Range Resources Inc. (NYSE: RRC): As Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, the analyst nudged the $30 target price to $31. The consensus target is $32.29. The stock closed on Tuesday at $27.33.
RH (NYSE: RH): Citing falling earnings estimates, Zacks selected this retail stock as its Bear of the Day. The shares have traded as high as $361.76 in the past year but closed most recently at $239.17 after retreating more than 24% in the past 90 days.
Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC): Northland Capital initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $32 target price. The consensus target is up at $41.75. Tuesday’s $22.92 close was up 6.5% on the day thanks to the upgrade.
Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT): Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform. Its $160 target price is well above the $131.92 consensus figure. Tuesday’s close was at $131.28.
Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT): Morgan Stanley raised its Underweight rating to Equal Weight and its $18 target price to $21. The consensus target is $21.07. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Tuesday at $18.96.
Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL): Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line, and the firm has an $81 target price. The consensus target is $82.28. The stock closed on Tuesday at $74.35.
West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE: WST): When Stephens upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, it raised its $330 target price to $400. The consensus target is $350.44. The stock closed on Tuesday at $354.87.
Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR): Though Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, it trimmed its $170 target price to $160. The consensus target is $150.83. Tuesday’s close was at $133.99.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH): Evercore ISI boosted its In Line rating to Outperform, and its $135 target price increased to $148. The consensus target is $133.65. The stock closed at $131.32 on Tuesday.
With a recession likely on the way, seven top health care stocks offer solid total return potential in a sector likely to outperform the rest of the year and perhaps beyond.
Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Homes 4 Rent, Block, Catalent, Cushman & Wakefield, Hasbro, McDonald’s, NetApp, Pioneer Natural Resources, Regions Financial, Southwestern Energy, Tyson Foods, Warner Bros. Discovery and Weyerhaeuser.
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