The futures were trading lower after the first full day of trading for the third quarter got off to a rough start. All the major indexes closed lower on Wednesday. Some on Wall Street continue to point at the softer economic data from China that indicates very tepid growth, in addition to the technology tensions between the United States and China. Plus, after a big June rally, some may be taking profits into a perceived overbought equity landscape. With the June jobs report on deck for Friday, and the June consumer price index report in the queue for next week, there is the potential for some market-moving data points over the next seven trading days.

On Wednesday, Treasury yields were higher across the curve, after a rough week last week that saw all the maturities sink lower, with yields above 5% on every maturity from the one-month to the one-year paper. The two-year note closed the day at 4.95%, while the benchmark 10-year finished the day at 3.95%. With the inversion still in place and the widest in 42 years, the long-awaited and predicted recession could be here by the end of the year.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude rebounded from Monday’s slow showing, as more analysts started to factor in the extension of the Saudi Arabia production cut through August and similar cuts from the Russians. Brent finished the day at $76.63, while WTI was up a solid 2% to $71.79. Natural gas closed Wednesday at $2.66, down 1.6%.

Gold finished Wednesday modestly lower at $1,922.70, after a brutal June that saw the bullion hit hard. Geopolitical tensions could put a bid back under gold as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and mounting China worries as a new Cuba alliance surfaces continue to be front-page news. Bitcoin closed lower with the equity markets, down 1% at $30,460.

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, July 6, 2023.

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ADPT): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $15 target price. The consensus target is $12.29, and the stock closed almost 5% lower on Wednesday at $6.37.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Northland Capital’s upgrade to Outperform from Market Perform included a target price hike from $81 all the way to $150. The consensus target is $130.40. The stock closed on Wednesday at $113.95.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $55 price target. The consensus target is up at $65.43. The stock closed on Wednesday at $51.30.
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN): BMO Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $102 target price is lower than the consensus target of $119.22. Wednesday’s close was at $87.27.

Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR): As Barclays upgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Underweight, its $29 target price jumped to $45. The consensus target is $46.60. The stock closed on Wednesday at $50.61.

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and trimmed its $65 price target to $60. Shares have traded as high as $116.30 in the past year but closed on Wednesday at $78.35.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG): The Jefferies downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $38 target price. The consensus is $41.64, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $33.67.

Coty Inc. (NYSE: COTY): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating. Its $14 target price compares with the consensus target of $13.39 and Wednesday’s $12.52 closing share price.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ: GFS): Its Bear of the Day stock is struggling to draw new business in the AI-chip war, says Zacks. Shares have traded as high as $72.50 in the past year but closed most recently at $63.35.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ): Jefferies initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a target price of $24. The consensus target is $25. The shares closed on Wednesday at $18.76.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI): J.P. Morgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $329 target price. The consensus target is $304.90. The shares ended Wednesday trading at $292.74.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to Neutral from Sell. The analyst also boosted its $230 target price to $400, above the consensus target of $395.37. Wednesday’s close was at $445.90.

Noble Corp. PLC (NYSE: NE): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $64 target price. The consensus target is $55.38. The stock closed on Wednesday at $43.46, up almost 3% for the day on the initiation.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE): Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral. Its $191 target price is well above the consensus target of $150.08. Wednesday’s $160.45 close was down over 3% on the day.
Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA): When Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral, its $50 target price rose to $65. The stock hit a 52-week high of $56.65 on Wednesday after the upgrade. The $55.90 close was a gain of over 14% for the day.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $13 target price. The consensus target is $18.70. The stock closed on Wednesday at $10.64, up over 3% for the day, on the initiation.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN): D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and lifted the price target to $18 from $11. Needham reiterated a Buy rating, and its $26 target price increased to $28. The consensus target is $22.85. Wednesday’s close at $20.43 was up 4.45% for the day on the upgrade.

SPX Technologies Inc. (NYSE: SPXC): Though UBS downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy, the analyst did lift the $80 target price to $90. The consensus target is $89.00. The stock closed on Wednesday at $79.17, down 7% for the day on the downgrade.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG): Citigroup boosted its Neutral rating to Buy from and its $6.50 target price to $9.50. The consensus target is $7.31. The stock closed Wednesday’s session at $7.35, which was up over 4.5% for the day on the upgrade and positive commentary.

U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral with a $26 target price. The consensus target is $26.84. Wednesday’s $23.96 close was down almost 5% for the day after the downgrade.

Vici Properties Inc. (NYSE: VICI): When Deutsche Bank downgraded the gambling REIT giant to Hold from Buy, its target price slipped to $34 from $39. The consensus target is $37.88, and shares ended Wednesday trading at $31.33.

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Artificial intelligence, the next big thing, is here, but the big money has yet to made and the mega-cap tech companies are likely to benefit first. Five big tech stocks have been hit hard and still offer some of the most outstanding entry points in years.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Constellation Brands, Dominion Energy, Lucid, Nike, Southern Company, Tesla, Valero Energy, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Wells Fargo.

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