The futures were trading higher as we get to finish out the first half of 2023. The major indexes closed mixed on Thursday, with only the Nasdaq finishing the day lower. However, it was a banner six months for the Nasdaq, which had its best first half in 52 years. The S&P 500 finished up over 30% and 14% respectively, while the venerable Dow Jones Industrials only managed to scratch out a single-digit gain. Some big positives Thursday for the overall market: all 23 banks passed the Federal Reserve stress test, and the final reading for first-quarter gross domestic product came in at 2%, versus expectations for growth of 1.4%.

Treasury yields soared across the curve as the GDP data almost assures that there will be at least two more federal funds rate hikes this year, with one possibly as soon as July. The benchmark 10-year note yield jumped 14 basis points to finish the day at 3.85%, while the two-year maturity climbed 13 basis points to close at 4.86%. The inversion between the two still suggests recession is on the way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the day modestly higher, with WTI at $69.77 and Brent at $74.28. Wednesday’s report of a giant draw from reserves continued to provide a tailwind for the black gold. Natural gas finished the day up 0.75% at $2.69, as a heatwave continues to sit over Texas and a large swath of the country.

Gold continued its losing streak, closing down 0.32% at $1,916. Gold analysts see strong support at $1,900 for the bullion, which was trading over $2,000 per ounce as recently as late April. Bitcoin rebounded to close up 0.75% at $30,315.

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 30, 2023.

Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO): B. Riley Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $63 target price. The consensus target is $68.57, and shares closed on Thursday at $53.15.

Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $155 target price. The consensus target is $213.09. Thursday’s final trade was for $153.61 a share.
Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CFG): J.P. Morgan downgraded the bank to Neutral from Overweight and lowered the target price to $27 from $29. The consensus target is $35.00. The stock closed on Thursday at $25.93.
Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN): Goldman Sachs raised its $193 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $218. The consensus target is $199.41. The stock closed on Thursday at $198.85.

Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXF): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $125 target price. The consensus target is $124.14. The stock closed on Thursday at $107.82.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Bernstein initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $41 target price. The consensus target for the mining giant is higher at $45.99. Thursday’s close was at $39.35.

FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY): Morgan Stanley lifted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight with a $13 target price. The consensus target is $14.83. Thursday’s $9.08 close was a 20% gain for the day due to the upgrade and key corporate announcements this week.

General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS): Stifel lowered its $95 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $86. The consensus target is $82. Thursday’s close was at $76.30.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co. (NYSE: GPK): Deutsche Bank cut its Buy rating to Hold and its $30 price target to $26. The consensus target is $31. Thursday’s close at $23.67 was down 2% on the day.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT): Canaccord Genuity’s upgrade from Hold to Buy included a target price hike to $18 from $12. The consensus target is $13.75. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $11.17, which was up close to 4% for the day.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU): Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight. Its $45 target price rose to $70, which is still less than the $71.65 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $64.33.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS): Citing the bearishness of analysts, Zacks selected this fertilizer producer as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $63.16 in the past year but closed most recently at $34.78. That is down about 23% in the past 90 days.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Citigroup reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target price to $500 from $400. The consensus target is just $392.51, but the stock closed on Thursday at $428.24.

Pentair PLC (NYSE: PNR): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $75 target price. The consensus target is $63.62, and the stock closed at $63.70 on Thursday.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): Credit Suisse’s downgrade to Neutral from Outperform came with a target price cut to $40 from $47. The consensus target is $46.57. The shares closed on Thursday at $36.12.

RH (NYSE: RH): Loop Capital downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Its $300 target price is higher than the $262.33 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $322.43.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $65 target price. The consensus target is $67.63. The stock closed on Thursday at $63.00.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and has a $112 target price. The consensus target is $119.42, and Thursday’s close was at $108.87.

Schneider National Inc. (NYSE: SNDR): As Susquehanna upgraded the shares to Positive from Neutral, its $29 target price increased to $33. The consensus target is $32.21. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $28.96.

Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ: SYM): Though UBS downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, the analyst lifted the $34 target price to $40. The consensus target is $35.36. Thursday’s close was at $41.45.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX): Piper Sandler initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $110 target price. The consensus target is $87.99. The stock closed on Thursday at $83.74.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): Citing its outperformance this year and big projected growth, Zacks named this stock as its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $196.82, and the $214.29 consensus price target represents nearly 9% upside.

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Despite having positive fundamentals and being Buy rated across Wall Street, five stocks have among the highest current short interest. They may not explode the way GameStop did in 2021, but with any good news, they could have some serious upside potential.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coherent, Deere, GoDaddy, Pinterest, Rexford Industrial Realty, Salesforce, Uber Technologies, Vale, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Workday.

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