The futures were trading lower after another day of selling across Wall Street on Wednesday. All the major indexes again finished the day lower. Top strategists cited five straight weeks of gains for the S&P 500 as one of the reasons for the headwinds for stocks this week. In addition, Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s semi-annual presentation to Congress continued sending signals that more rate hikes are on the way, as almost all of the voting members have cited the need for a higher federal funds rate. Currently, it looks as though the terminal rate will top out at 5.6% later this year with two additional 25-basis-point hikes.

Treasury yields were modestly lower across the curve as the buyers stepped in once again to take advantage of some of the highest yields since March. Most of the chatter Wednesday focused on the two-year and 10-year bond inversion, which we have highlighted since it started last year. When the yield is higher on the short two-year note than on the 10-year note, the yields are inverted. The current spread of 100 basis points is the widest in four decades. The two-year note closed Wednesday at 4.72%, while the 10-year finished at 3.72%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude both closed the day higher, following through on some of last week’s strength. Strength in the Venezuela economy and falling Canadian production were cited as tailwinds for the energy complex. Brent closed the session at $77.14, up over 1.6%, while WTI closed at $72.56, up 1.9% on the day. Natural gas also closed higher at $2.59, which was up close to 4%.

Gold finished the day lower again at $1,944.50, as sellers continued to consolidate 2023 gains. Bitcoin exploded almost 6% higher to close at $30,051, the highest close for the cryptocurrency since late April.

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 Thursday, June 22, 2023.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the software giant to Outperform from Market Perform and lifted its $500 target price to $570. The consensus target is $531.76. The shares closed on Wednesday at $475.77.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $150 target price. The consensus target is $136.45. Wednesday’s close was at $125.43.

Avantor Inc. (NYSE: AVTR): RBC Capital Markets started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $27 price target. The consensus target is $25.00. The shares closed on Wednesday at $19.78.

Avidbank Holdings Inc. (AVBH): D.A. Davidson started coverage on the over-the-counter traded stock with a Buy rating and a $24 target price. The consensus target is $19.50. Wednesday’s close was at $15.98.
Beauty Health Co. (NASDAQ: SKIN): As Stifel downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy, its price target dropped to $10 from $17. The consensus target is posted at $17.68 for now. Wednesday’s close at $7.95 was down almost 9% for the day, after the downgrade and price cut.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $2,300 from $2,200. The consensus target is $2,099.31. Wednesday’s closing share price was $2075.45.

Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR): Though Rosenblatt cut its Buy rating to Neutral, the analyst also raised the $41 price target to $50. The consensus target is $44. The stock closed on Wednesday at $47.04, down 15% for the day due to the downgrade.

CSG Systems International Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGS): Northland Capital started coverage with an Outperform rating. Its $82 price target is well above the consensus target of $67.60 and Wednesday’s close at $52.59.

Everest Re Group Ltd. (NYSE: RE): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $406 target price. The consensus target is higher at $435.50. Wednesday’s final trade was for $354.21 a share.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Stifel lowered its $264 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $259. The consensus target is $254.71. The stock closed on Wednesday at $2226.06.

Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY): Susquehanna cut its Neutral rating to Negative with a $13 target price. The consensus target is $18.34, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $15.38.

LiveRamp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAMP): Benchmark upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy with a $33 target price. The consensus target is $31.67. The shares closed over 5% higher on Wednesday at $27.82 after the upgrade.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Goldman Sachs raised its $70 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $80. The consensus target is $71.85. The shares closed on Wednesday at $66.43.

OneSpaWorld Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: OSW): The Hold rating at Loop Capital is now at Buy, but the $13 target price is less than the $15.00 consensus target. Wednesday’s $11.48 close up over 2% for the day.
Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): Wolfe Research downgraded the shares to Underperform from Peer Perform and has a $6 target price. The consensus target is up at $12.13. Wednesday’s close at $7.45 was down by almost 10% on the day, due to the downgrade.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR): Goldman Sachs raised its $13 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $18.10. The consensus target is $14.18. The shares closed on Wednesday at $14.95, which was up over 5% on the day.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating with a $180 target price. The slightly higher $182.43 consensus target also compares with Wednesday’s closing share price of $176.40.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT): Wolfe Research upgraded the shares to Outperform from Peer Perform. Its $190 target price is well above the $157.86 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $155.28.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): The Barclays downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight came with a target price hike to $260 from $220. The $194.84 consensus target is well below Wednesday’s close at $259.46, which was down over 5% on the day after the downgrade and some serious profit-taking.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW): BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $75 price objective. That compares with the $53.00 consensus target and Wednesday’s closing print of $48.64.

Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL): J.P. Morgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $472 target price. The consensus target is just $433.09. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $393.29.

Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSCO): Citing slowing sales in North America, Zacks selected this retailer as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $48.16 in the past year but closed most recently at $18.30.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Whether the broader market catches up or continues to lag should not deter aggressive growth investors from adding shares of the seven tech giants that are driving the rally so far this year due to the rising interest in artificial intelligence.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Allstate, Archer Daniels Midland, Avis Budget, Baidu, Centene, Lemonade, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Palantir Technologies, Peabody Energy, Philip Morris, Shopify and Zscaler.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.