The futures were mixed to begin the new trading week. All the major indexes finished Friday lower, after a solid start early that abruptly turned around the noon hour on the east coast after the Republican contingent to the debt ceiling negotiations said they were “pressing the pause button” on the talks. Once again, the Republicans cited the lack of compromise on the budget-cutting in their bill and look to stand their ground as the country is $31 trillion in debt.

Treasury yields were higher again on Friday, with the 10-year benchmark note closing at 3.69%, the highest since March. Hawkish comments from Fed Chair Powell and some of the other committee members last week on the possibility of yet another increase in the federal funds rate in June helped to propel the selling. The two-year note closed flat at 4.27%, so the inversion between the two securities remains in place. Bond traders view the anomaly as a recession sign.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished modestly lower, despite calls from BofA Securities for $90 a barrel oil by the end of the year. Despite the flat close for the two benchmarks, oil finished its best week in a month. Natural gas also closed unchanged after a very solid at $2.59.

Gold rebounded Friday after a tough week for the bullion, closing up 1% at $1979. Bitcoin was slightly higher to finish a very difficult week that saw the cryptocurrency giant close at $26,841. Bitcoin was over $30,000 just a month 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 Monday, May 22, 2023.

Amphenol Corp. (NYSE: APH): Credit Suisse downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform and cut its $91 target price to $77. The consensus target is $82.36. The shares closed on Friday at $75.80.

Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE: APO): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $80 target price. That compares with the $76.04 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $63.85.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT): Citigroup maintained a Buy rating and boosted its target price to $160 from $136. Needham also kept a Buy rating, and it nudged its $135 target price to $140. The consensus target is $128.53. The shares closed on Friday at $126.95.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $750 target price. The consensus target is $696.11. The shares closed on Friday at $666.70.
Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE: BE): Though J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, it also trimmed its $22 target price to $20. The consensus target is $27.68. Friday’s close was at $13.94.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX): J.P. Morgan started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $49 target price. The consensus target is up at $81.71 for now. The stock closed on Friday at $45.96.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL): Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and lifted its price target to $55 from $50. The consensus target is $47.86. The last trade on Friday was for $47.75 a share.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Mizuho upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, but it lowered its target price to $146 from $150. The consensus target is $143.18. The shares closed on Friday at $114.59.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS): Citigroup’s upgrade was to Neutral from Sell, though it also lowered the target price to $8 from $10. The consensus target is $11.35. The shares closed down 4% on Friday at $7.78.

Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR): When Mizuho upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, it raised its $93 target price to $115. The consensus target is $107.50. The shares closed on Friday at $102.71.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ): Citigroup started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $16 price target. The consensus target is $17.79, and shares closed on Friday at $15.24.

MaxLinear Inc. (NYSE: MXL): Exane BNP Paribas lifted its Underperform rating to Neutral with a $30 price objective. The consensus target is $36.82. Friday’s $28.56 close was up over 4% for the day on the upgrade. The company posted solid first-quarter results at the end of April.

Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS): Stephens downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight. The analyst also cut its $7 price target to $5, well below the $8.25 consensus target. Friday’s close was at $3.26.

PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE: PBF): As Mizuho downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it chopped the target price to $41 from $56. The consensus target is $48.09. The shares closed on Friday at $36.97.

Planet Fitness Inc. (NYSE: PLNT): RBC Capital Markets started coverage with an Outperform rating and an $86 target price. The consensus target is $87.00. The stock closed on Friday at $67.73.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): Mizuho’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $35 from $30. The consensus target is $32.00. On Friday, the shares closed at $29.33.

SciPlay Corp. (NASDAQ: SCPL): Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and trimmed its $21 target price to $20. The consensus target is $19.00. Friday’s close was at $19.67.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): This leading SAAS workflow company has emerged as a highly compelling stock, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day. The shares last closed at $510.30 apiece, and the $542.33 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.
Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK): Morgan Stanley’s upgrade to Equal Weight from Underweight included a target price boost to $63 from $52. The consensus target is higher at $66.80, and shares closed near there on Friday at $66.69.

TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL): Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral. It also bumped its $136 target price from $138, just below the consensus target of $138.70. The stock closed on Friday at $124.08.

Toro Co. (NYSE: TTC): C.L. King started coverage with a Buy rating and a $133 target price. The consensus target is $120. Friday’s final trade was for $105.24 a share.

TPG Inc. (NASDAQ: TPG): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $32 price target. The consensus target is $32.67. The stock closed at $26.74 on Friday.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock but dropped its $600 target price to $575. The consensus target is $564.05. The stock closed over 4% lower on Friday at $491.05. Analysts cited the price cut as the reason.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): Macquarie dropped its Outperform rating to Neutral and its $125 target price to $103. The consensus target is $122.33. The stock closed on Friday at $91.35.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN): The Hold rating at Argus rose to Buy with a $29 target price. The consensus target is $25.31. Friday’s close was at $23.40.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albemarle, Amazon.com, Array Technologies, BlackBerry, Dynatrace, Futu, Gap, Mosaic, Procter & Gamble, Regions Financial, Take-Two Interactive Software, Target, TJX Companies and Wolfspeed.

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