The futures were trading lower as investors returned from the holiday to finish out a shortened trading week. With sparse volume and an early close on Monday, all the major indexes ended modestly higher. The Nasdaq, which ripped off a stunning 33% first-half gain, an all-time record for the tech-heavy index, led the gains Monday, up 0.21% at 13,816.77. The attention now turns to the jobs report for June on Friday, which while expected to be slowing some still remains reasonably strong. A strong report and a sustained, albeit lower, inflation print for the month virtually assures another federal funds hike in late July.

Treasury yields were modestly higher on Monday, after some big-time selling last week. The benchmark 10-year note closed at 3.86%, the highest level since early March, and all the maturities of a year or less ended over the 5% level. In addition, with the two-year closing at 4.94%, the inversion with the 10-year maturity widened the spread out to 108 basis points, the widest in 40 years.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished Monday lower, and like the equity markets, volume was low. The tailwind for the markets for the rest of this week and beyond likely will be that Saudi Arabia announced a month-long extension of its 1 million barrel-per-day oil production cut, which now will go through August. Natural gas finished Monday lower by 3.47% at $2.70, after posting a strong week to end the quarter.

Gold moved higher to start off the new quarter, closing at $1,929.60, after a second quarter to forget that saw the bullion trade over $2,000 as recently as early May. Bitcoin, which had a big second quarter, continued its winning ways on Monday by closing up 1.8% at $31,164.

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 Wednesday, July 5, 2023.

ACM Research Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR): Jefferies upgraded the shares to Buy from Underperform and lifted its $9 target price all the way to $23.40. The consensus target is $17.44. The stock closed over 13% higher on Monday at $14.83 due to the upgrade and positive commentary.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): DBS Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $150 target price. That compares with a $140.04 consensus target and Monday’s last print of $130.22.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN): Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating on the shares while lifting the $185 target price to $200. The consensus target is just $162.75, below Monday’s close at $166.51.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): Canaccord Genuity lowered its $110 target price on the Hold-rated shares to $104. The consensus target is higher at $119.81. Monday’s closing share price was $85.89.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK): J.P. Morgan reiterated an Overweight rating but trimmed its $780 target price to $770. The consensus target is $759.93. The shares closed on Monday at $693.58.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) Roth MKM reiterated a Buy rating on the shares and lifted its target price to $284 from $270. The consensus target is $266.95. Monday’s close was at $247.47.
Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE: D): Though BMO Capital Markets reiterated an Outperform rating, its $63 target price dropped to $59. The consensus target is $59.77. The stock closed on Monday at $52.61.

Enhabit Inc. (NYSE: EHAB): BofA Securities reiterated an Underperform rating while lowering its $12 target price to $10. The consensus target is higher at $14.19. Monday’s close was at $11.23.

Lucid Group Inc. (NYSE: LCID): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and an $8 target price. The consensus target is $8.33. Monday’s $7.39 close was up over 7% for the day after solid sales results were posted.

MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ): Citigroup reiterated a Buy rating, and its $113 price target increased to $135. The consensus target is $119.64. Monday’s close was at $118.20.

Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY): RBC Capital Markets lowered its $45 target price to $40 while keeping a Sector Perform rating. The consensus target is $43.63. The stock closed on Monday at $34.97.

Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating, but its target price rose to $362 from $328. The consensus target is $336, below Monday’s close at $346.39.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Though Baird reiterated an Outperform rating, its $148 price target dropped to $130. The consensus target is $128.87. The shares closed on Monday at $109.11.

Southern Co. (NYSE: SO): Goldman Sachs added the utility to the firm’s Conviction list of top stocks to buy. The firm’s $80 target price is well above the consensus target of $73.50 and Monday’s close at $70.57.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating but lifted its $248 target price to $275. Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating, and its target price increased to $270 from $260. The consensus target is $200.84 for now. Monday’s close at $279.82 was up almost 7% for the day after solid sales numbers were posted.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO): BofA Securities raised its $157 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $160. The consensus target is $143.84. The shares ended Monday trading at $117.43.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Underweight rating and cut the $37 target price to $27, below the $34.73 consensus target. Monday’s close was at $29.02. The company announced Monday that it would be closing 140 stores by 2024.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): Raymond James reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the stock. Its $48 target price is now $51, higher than the $48.83 consensus target. The stock closed almost 2% higher on Monday at $43.30.

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The highest-yielding Nasdaq stocks offer a contrarian angle for the rest of 2023. They all have some solid defensive qualities, and they are offering among the best entry points seen in some time.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AMC Entertainment, Arch Resources, Bausch + Lomb, Lazard, Lucid, MicroStrategy and Paychex.

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