The futures traded lower as we get to finish off the holiday-shortened week. After being worked over earlier this week, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were able to post a gain Thursday, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed the day modestly lower. Federal Reserve Chair Powell stated in testimony to Congress this week that interest rates would be going higher, with the next move coming as soon as July. The hawkish tone plus overbought conditions and rising valuations has slowed the recent AI-driven tech rally and may invite more selling next week as the quarter comes to a close.

Treasury yields jumped higher across the curve Wednesday, as sellers returned along with higher initial claims for unemployment. Another data point that brought out the sellers was that active home listings hit a record low in May, according to Redfin. The 10-year note closed at 3.80%, while the two-year paper finished the day at 4.79%. The spread between the two securities is the highest in 40 years.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude gave back all of Wednesday’s gains as the threat of more interest rate hikes hover over the energy complex. Brent closed down 3.89% at $74.12, while WTI finished the session lower by 4.21% at $69.48. This comes after Brent closed on Wednesday at the highest level since May. Natural gas closed the day higher at $2.61.

The sellers continued to lean on gold, as the bullion closed down almost 1% at $1,928. Once again, the hawkish Fed and the potential for more hikes continue to pressure the commodity. Bitcoin closed down over 1% at $29,749, after a huge move higher Wednesday that took the cryptocurrency back over $30,000 for the first time since mid-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 Friday, June 23, 2023.

Agree Realty Corp. (NYSE: ADC): Mizuho upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy and has a $70 target price. The consensus target is $76.04. Thursday’s closing share price was $65.40.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Morgan Stanley cut its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and lowered its target price to $33 from $43. The consensus target is $45.87. The stock closed over 4% lower on Thursday at $33.41 after the downgrade.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM): Roth MKM initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $92 target price. The consensus target is $96.61. The stock closed on Thursday at $73.06.

Bunge Inc. (NYSE: BG): Roth MKM began coverage with a Buy rating and a $138 target price. The consensus target is $126.55, and the stock closed on Thursday at $93.27.

CACI International Inc. (NYSE: CACI): Stifel reiterated a Hold rating but boosted its target price to $360 from $315. The consensus target is $345.40. The stock closed on Thursday at $332.83 a share.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $263 price objective. The consensus target is lower at $238.96, and the stock closed at $237.34 on Thursday.

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE): As BofA Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral, the analyst trimmed the $123 target price to $116. The consensus target is $124.46. Thursday’s final trade was for $107.13 a share.

Digital Ocean Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DOCN): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares from Neutral to Underweight with a $35 target. The consensus target is $40, and the stock closed on Thursday at $39.04.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW): The BofA Securities downgrade to Underperform from Neutral included a target price reduction to $55 from $64. The consensus target is $57.89. The shares closed on Thursday at $51.39.

Eneti Inc. (NYSE: NETI): Citigroup’s downgrade was to Neutral from Buy. The firm’s $14 target price compares with a consensus target of $13.76 and the most recent close at $11.86 a share.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $820 target price to $870. The consensus target is $798.90, and the shares ended Friday’s session at $746.99.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating. Its $160 target is well above the consensus target of $125.04. The stock closed on Thursday at $107.33, up over 2% on the day.

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Hold rating and has set a $61 target price. The posted consensus target is $67.00, and Thursday’s closing share price was $60.39.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K): Bernstein’s upgrade was from Underperform to Market Perform with a $62 target price. The consensus target is up at $71.94, and the shares closed at $65.55 on Thursday.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE: PAGS): New Street downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. The firm’s $14 target price compares with a consensus target of $12.95 and Thursday’s closing share price of $10.30.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its target price is $900, well above the consensus target of $887.91 and Thursday’s close at $779.81.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): DZ Bank started coverage with a Buy rating, and it has a $75 target price. The consensus target is higher at $95.44, but the shares closed on Thursday at $59.49.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Though Morgan Stanley its rating to Equal Weight from Overweight, the analyst also lifted the $200 target price to $250. The consensus target is $195.98, but shares closed well above that on Thursday at $264.61.

Toro Co. (NYSE: TTC): D.A. Davidson initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $117 target price. The consensus target is $119, and shares closed on Thursday at $99.46.

Tripadvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP): B. Riley Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $21.14. Thursday’s close at $16.86 was up over 4% for the day on the positive analyst comments and the initiation.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating. Its $175 target price is higher than the $168.34 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $155.75.

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Goldman Sachs has launched a monthly “Directors’ Cut” list of top stock picks. Five outstanding technology, media and telecom stocks made the inaugural list, and they have double-digit upside potential and make good sense now for growth stock investors.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Amazon.com, Avantor, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Coherent, FedEx, Infosys, Micron Technology, Peloton Interactive, Petrobras, Snowflake, Tesla and Victoria’s Secret.

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