The futures were trading lower at the start of a new trading week that will feature an avalanche of the top companies in the S&P 500 reporting second-quarter results. After a strong week, the major indexes closed lower on Friday, with only the Dow Jones industrials posting a gain on the day. While the major banks kicked off the earnings parade with solid results on Friday, there is a lingering sense that the recent rally is way overextended and some stocks, especially the tech giants that have led the charge, could be ready to see some serious profit taking.

Treasury yields were higher across every maturity after a flurry of buying in the safe-haven debt on the very tepid inflation numbers posted last week had driven yields to highs not seen since March. The benchmark 10-year note closed Friday at 3.83%, up seven basis points, while the shorter two-year paper ended trading at 4.77%, up a whopping 16 basis points.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude also saw the sellers come in after a solid week for the crude oil benchmarks. Both closed down over 2%, with Brent finishing at $79.66 and WTI at $75.26. The selling came despite the fact that the rig count once again fell, with the total count finishing the week at 675, which is 81 less than this time last year. Natural gas closed flat on Friday at $2.54.

Gold closed modestly lower on Friday at $1959.60, after a solid week for the bullion. Top analysts noted that after a rough stretch, some bullish sentiment is slowly but surely starting to reemerge in the sector. In addition, after a huge Thursday, Bitcoin gave it all back Friday, closing down just shy of 4% at $30,235.40.

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 Monday, July 17, 2023.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its $130 target price on the shares to $150. The consensus target is $134.68. The last trade on Friday was for $134.68 a share.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): J.P. Morgan’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a target price cut to $17 from $22. The consensus target is $20.32. The stock closed on Friday at $14.50, down over 4% on the day over concerns that the company may face a huge contamination clean-up.

Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD): Morgan Stanley boosted its Underweight rating to Equal Weight and its target price to $75 from $69. The consensus target is $79.33. Friday’s close was at $71.85.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $890 target price to $942. The consensus target is $872.74. The stock closed on Friday at $888.58.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): Despite downgrading the stock to Neutral from Buy, UBS bumped its $38 target price to $39. The consensus target is $37.64. Friday’s $33.56 close was over 6% lower after the downgrade.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and nudged the target price to $32 from $31. The consensus target is $29.74. Friday’s close was reported at $30.55.

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY): HSBC Securities reiterated a Buy rating. Its $560 price target is well above the $457.93 consensus target and Friday’s close was at $449.46.
EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR): The Raymond James downgrade was from Strong Buy to Outperform with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $49.28. The shares closed on Friday at $45.55.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating, and its $75 target price rose to $86. The consensus target is $74.87. Friday’s close was at $78.92.

General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS): Argus upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, and its $90 target price compares with an $81.82 consensus target and the most recent close at $75.01.

Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX): Needham upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and has a $95 target price. The consensus target is $92.08. The stock closed on Friday at $80.32.

Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL): Piper Sandler’s downgrade to Neutral from Overweight came with a price target slash to $7 from $16. The consensus target is $13.67 for now. The last trade Friday was for $6.70 a share, which was down a stunning 30% for the day after the company cut its annual forecast.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT): The Neutral rating at UBS is now a Buy, and the target price increased to $400 from $345. The consensus target is $348.81, and Friday’s closing print was $345.24.

Nextracker Inc. (NASDAQ: NXT): HSBC started coverage with a Buy rating and a $46 target price. The consensus target is $42.75. Friday’s $37.79 close was down over 3% on the day despite the upgrade.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $470 target price to $545. The consensus target is $477.39. The shares ended Friday trading at $454.69.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Northland Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm’s $22 target price compares with an $18.34 consensus target and Friday’s close at $12.14.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): When Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight, the target price dropped to $128 from $162. The consensus target is $145.50. The shares closed on Friday at $116.79.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM): Raymond James upgraded the shares from Market Perform to Outperform with a target price of $93. The consensus target is $82.29. Friday’s close at $82.51 was up almost 3% for the day on the upgrade.

Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW): Raymond James initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating and an $85 target price. That compares with the lower $71.20 consensus target and Friday’s closing print of $59.80.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL): Raymond James lifted its Outperform rating to Strong Buy and its $77 target price to $100. The consensus target is $81.62. Friday’s close was at $83.52.

Welltower Inc. (NYSE: WELL): As Evercore ISI downgraded the shares to In line from Outperform, its $82 target price slipped to $81. The consensus target is $85, and shares closed at $79.98 on Friday.

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The second-quarter earnings reporting season is off to a solid start for the top financials. These six outstanding bank stocks offer oversized dividends, are Buy rated and have yet to report their results.

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