The futures were lower after the long weekend to start a shortened trading week. All the major indexes closed lower on Friday but capped off a very solid week that saw the S&P 500, despite a dip Friday, finishing higher for a fifth week of gains. That has not happened since November 2021. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 printed 52 weeks highs on Friday as well. With most of the market-moving data out of the way last week, with the consumer price index and the pause in the Federal Reserve rate hikes, investors will key in on how things stack up for the second half of the year, with only 10 days left in the first half.

After some solid buying last week, the sellers returned to the Treasury markets on Friday. Yields across the curve finished the day higher. The benchmark 10-year note closed out the week at 3.77%, while the two-year paper ended at 4.72%. The difference in yields between the shorter and longer maturity is an inversion that bond traders have been eyeing since last year. History shows that when the bonds trade like this, a recession could be on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the week on a solid up note. WTI was the big winner, closing up 1.65% at $71.78. The black gold got a solid boost when China jumped back in the demand argument, as policymakers may be getting ready to jumpstart their economy. The government eased monetary policy and boosted import quotas for the country’s refineries. Natural gas closed out a solid week, finishing Friday at $2.63, up almost 4%.

Gold finished a very up-and-down week closing flat on Friday at $1968.90. The bullion has been in a tight trading range since posting 52-week highs earlier this year. Top sector strategists cited the solid base being put in as a solid technical aspect that could move prices to new highs as 2023 rolls on. Bitcoin, which has been in a downward spiral, closed Friday up almost 3% at $26,296.

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, June 20, 2023.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI): Stifel reiterated with a Buy rating with a $88 price target. The consensus target is up at $91.14, and Friday’s close was at $81.97 a share.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): Goldman Sachs raised its $480 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $550. The consensus target is just $449.31. Friday’s close was at $495.18.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its $97 target price to $138. The consensus target is $127.66. Shares closed at $120.08 on Friday.
Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: LNT): Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $52.50 target price. The consensus target is $57. Friday’s final trade was for $53.74 a share.

Ares Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ARCC): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $20.50 target price, which is the same as the consensus target. Friday’s close was at $18.68.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): UBS’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a target price hike to $2,900 from $2,800. The consensus target is $2,775.71. On Friday, shares closed at $2,493.83.

Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC): D.A. Davidson started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $60 target. The consensus target is up at $75.74. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Friday at $66.39.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal Weight rating and boosted its $31 target price to $38. The consensus target is $30.74. Friday’s close was at $36.37.

LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Its $13.50 target price is well above the $11.29 consensus figure. Friday’s $9.87 close was up 3% for the day on the coverage and positive commentary.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating and lifted its target price to $133 from $120. The consensus target is $124.47. The last trade for Friday was reported at $120.02.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. (NYSE: LSPD): BTIG Research resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 target price. The consensus target is $19.93, and shares closed on Friday at $16.37.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal Weight rating on the stock but boosted the $55 target price to $68. The consensus target is $65.50. The stock closed on Friday at $61.12.

NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. (NYSE: NEX): Though Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral, the analyst nudged the $9.50 price target to $9.75. The consensus target is $13.17. Friday’s close at $8.84 was down over 7% for the day. The company is being acquired by Patterson UTI.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $143 target price. The consensus target is $133.42. The last trade on Friday was for $113.59 a share.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Its Bull of the Day stock is the “King of AI,” says Zacks. Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and raised its $450 price objective to $500. The $464.75 consensus target price would be an all-time high. Shares ended Friday trading at $426.92 apiece.
Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE: OXM): UBS initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $110 target price. The consensus target is $120.25, and Friday’s closing print of $99.01 was down over 3% on the day.

Shift4 Payments Inc. (NYSE: FOUR): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and an $83 target. The consensus target is $81.19. The shares closed on Friday at $63.50.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc. (NYSE: TSLX): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $21 target price. The consensus target is $20.81. Friday’s close was at $18.71.

SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Though BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy, the analyst bumped up the $9.50 target price to $10. Piper Sandler also downgraded the company, to Neutral from Overweight, but lifted its $6.50 price target to $8. The consensus target is $8.18. Friday’s final trade was for $8.60 a share.

Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC): The Buy rating at Odeon has dropped to Hold. The firm’s $32.75 target price compares with a $40.59 consensus target and Friday’s close at $31.90.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN): Zacks pointed to higher costs and declining consumption of beef as it named this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $88.76 in the past year but closed most recently at $50.39, which is down about 14% in the past 90 days.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE: WST): BofA Securities raised its Neutral rating to Buy and its $390 target price to $405. The consensus target is just $369.22. The closing share price on Friday was $362.04.

ZScaler Inc. (NYSE: ZS): As Stifel reiterated a Buy rating, its $150 price target rose to $180, well above the $169.62 consensus target.  Friday’s $154.01 close down almost 3% on the day.

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Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Accenture, Alphabet, Bill, BlackRock, Corning, Diageo, Domino’s Pizza, Emerson Electric, FedEx, Intuit, Kohl’s, Plug Power and Zions Bancorp.

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