The futures dipped lower to start out the week after a fairly uneventful Friday. Earnings are continuing to roll in, but markets have yet to really pick a definitive direction. Many expect the Federal Reserve to pivot and even lower rates this year, but with inflation remaining stubbornly higher than expected, not only will rates go up another 25 basis points in early May, some now feel there could be even more rate hikes coming down the pipe after that.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude continued their slide, as WTI pushed even further below the $80 a barrel level to $77. While oil has backed up from the big move higher, which was a result of OPEC announcing a big production cut, analysts cite the summer driving season and increased Chinese demand as support for higher prices to come.

Gold edged higher but is still holding just below the $2,000 level at $1,994. Some feel that gold can take a run at new all-time highs, should there be any disruptions in the equity markets. Bitcoin traded lower again in Monday’s premarket, down just over 2% at $27,338.

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, April 24, 2023.

ADC Therapeutics S.A. (NYSE: ADCT): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral and cut its price target to $2 from $7. The consensus target is $12.17. The stock closed on Friday at $2.30.

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY): BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Neutral from Underperform and raised its $24 price target to $28. The consensus target is $32.12. The stock closed down almost 2% on Friday at $25.86.

Alpha Tau Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ: DRTS): H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $9 price target. That is well above the $16.50 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $2.85.

Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX): Loop Capital raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $65 price target. The consensus target is $78.13. Friday’s final trade was for $52.13 a share.

Arbor Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: ABR): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade was to Neutral from Overweight. The analyst also cut the $15 price target to $11, well below the $16.00 consensus target. Friday’s closing share price was $10.69.
AZEK Co. Inc. (NYSE: AZEK): As Loop Capital lifted its Hold rating to Buy, the $27 price target increased to $33. The consensus price target is $29.21. The shares closed on Friday at $26.70.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $169 price target. The consensus target is $161.92. The shares closed on Friday at $143.69.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: CHK): Truist started coverage with a Buy rating and a $100 price target. The consensus target is $111.71. Friday’s close was at $80.85.

Clearwater Paper Corp. (NYSE: CLW): The RBC Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform included a price target hike to $42 from $38. The consensus target is $38.00. Friday’s close was at $32.67.

Costamare Inc. (NYSE: CMRE): Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Its $15 price target is now $10, and the consensus target is $13.00. The stock closed on Friday at $9.50.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNX): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $56 price target. The consensus target is $45.38. Friday’s $17.85 close was up almost 4% for the day.

C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI): Wolfe Research’s downgrade was to Underperform from Peer Perform. The firm’s $14 price target is much less than the $20.33 consensus target. The stock closed down over 3% on Friday at $20.06.

Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: EDR): Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $30 price target. The consensus target is $32.00. Shares closed on Friday at $25.01.

Eve Holding Inc. (NYSE: EVEX): TD Cowen initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating. The consensus target is $8.50. Friday’s close at $7.49 was down over 1% on the day.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): Citigroup downgraded it to Sell from Neutral and cut the price target to $194 from $220. The consensus price target is $216.41, and shares closed slightly higher on Friday at $216.89.
Heritage Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: HFWA): Keefe Bruyette reset its Outperform rating to Market Perform and cut the price target to $23 from $31. The consensus target is $28.00. Friday’s close was at $19.70.

HighPeak Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: HPK): Truist started coverage with a Sell rating and a $10 price target. The consensus target is up at $43.38. The stock closed on Friday at $22.58, down close to 1.5% on the day.

IDEAYA Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: IDYA): When Stifel upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold, it raised its $18 price target to $24. The consensus target is $26.10. The stock closed on Friday at $14.93.

Insperity Inc. (NYSE: NSP): Truist cut its Buy rating to Hold and has a $128 price target. The consensus price target is $134.33. The stock closed on Friday at $129.74.

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: KC): Even though Goldman Sachs downgraded it to Sell from Neutral, the firm raised its $4 price target to $5.10. Shares last closed at $6.68, coming in just below the $7.21 consensus price target.

Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $25.00. The stock closed at $21.16 on Friday.

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (NYSE: MSGS): Seaport Research Partners started coverage with a Buy rating and a $36 price target. The consensus target is $229.25. Friday’s close was at $198.67.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was to Overweight and it raised its $77 price target from $100. The consensus target is $88.64. The stock closed on Friday at $85.73.

Opendoor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN): Wedbush cut its Outperform rating to Neutral and its $3.50 price target to $1.70. The consensus target is $3.66. The stock closed on Friday at $1.54.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Alphabet, Chegg, Citizens Financial, Comstock Resources, Coterra Energy, CubeSmart, Emerson Electric, Fastly, General Electric, Las Vega Sands, Medical Properties Trust, Microsoft, Nio, Novavax, Raytheon Technologies, Sea, Tesla, Tripadvisor, Ventas, Welltower and WestRock.

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