The futures were lower after a solid start to the trading week on Monday. All the major indexes finished the day higher, and many across Wall Street are still pointing to last week’s lower inflation numbers and the potential for the economy to have a soft landing as strong catalysts. Many strategists are starting to question if the recent rally is a bit long in the tooth, given that most of the massive gains this year have been driven by the artificial intelligence wave and just a handful of mega-cap technology giants. Despite the positive inflation trends, and stock rally, the futures market is still pricing in an increase in the federal funds rate in late July.

Treasury yields were mixed across the curve on Monday, after some big selling last week. The 10-year benchmark note finished the Monday session at 3.80%, while the shorter two-year paper also was flat, closing the day at 4.74%. The inversion between the two securities still indicates the potential for a recession later this year.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower to start the week, with Brent lower by 1.7% to finish at $78.50 and WTI at $74.08, after some strong gains last week. Analysts pointed to the disappointing economic data from China, as second-quarter gross domestic product came in lower than anticipated while June retail sales were disappointing as well. Natural gas closed up modestly at $2.54.

Despite continued weakness in the dollar, gold closed Monday flat at $1955.50. The economic weakness in China was also cited for the weakness in the bullion, as some traders feel there could be demand concerns for precious metals. Bitcoin, which was pounded on Friday, closed Monday essentially unchanged at $30,180.90.

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 Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price objective to $140 from $132. The consensus target is $133.52. Monday’s final trade was for $124.65 a share.

America’s Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT): As Stephens boosted its Equal Weight rating to Overweight, the $70 target price exploded to $135. The consensus target is $76 for now. The shares closed over 15% higher on Monday to close at $119.52, due to the big upgrade and price objective increase.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and lifted its $190 target price to $220. The consensus target is $188.98. Monday’s closing share price was $193.99.
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK): Bernstein’s upgrade was from Market Perform to Outperform with a $49 target price. The consensus target is $43.23. The stock closed 4% higher on Monday at $43.52 after the upgrade.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral and its $30 target price to $17. The consensus target is $20.27 for now. The stock closed on Monday at $14.50, down over 6% for the day, over reports that the company may face a massive lead contamination clean-up.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Goldman Sachs upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its $39 target price to $50. The consensus target is $44.53, and the stock closed on Monday at $37.90.

Cohu Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU): B. Riley Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. The analyst also boosted the $38 target price to $50, well above the $40.87 consensus target. Monday’s $41.15 closing print was up almost 4% for the day on the upgrade.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed its target price to $110 from $130. The consensus target is $116.28. The shares closed on Monday at $93.40.

Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR): TD Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating but lowered its $19 target price to $14. The consensus target is $9.60. Monday’s $6.85 close was up 11% for the day on positive EV commentary.

FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM): Northland Capitals’ downgrade was from Outperform to Market Perform with a $32 target price. The consensus target is $34.00. Monday’s close was at $36.03.

Frontier Communications Parent Inc. (NASDAQ: FYBR): When Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, its $30 target price dropped to $17. The consensus target is $32.50 for now. Monday’s $12.05 close was down almost 16% for the day on the downgrade and likely on the negative AT&T news.

Leslie’s Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL): The Jefferies downgrade to Neutral from Overweight included a price target chop to $7 from $16. The consensus target is $13.67 for now. Monday’s close at $5.46 was down almost 19% for the day on multiple downgrades across Wall Street.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target price to $335 from $300. The consensus target is $296.39. Monday’s close was at $310.62.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Deutsche Bank reiterated its Buy rating, and the firm raised its $410 target price to $475. The $413.94 consensus target is handily less than Monday’s $450.05 closing share price.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Citigroup launched its $420 price target to $520, well above the $479.22 consensus target. The shares closed at $464.61 on Monday.

PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR): Jefferies raised its Hold rating to Buy and its $85 price target to $115. The $81.33 consensus target is short of Monday’s $87.56 close.

Power Integrations Inc. (NASDAQ: POWI): Northland Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform with a target price of $82. The consensus target is $91.17, and the last trade for Monday came in at $96.86.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): J.P. Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and has a $146 target price, The consensus target price is $141.50. The shares closed almost 5% higher on Monday at $121.95 after the upgrade.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Baird reiterated its Outperform rating and raised the target price to $300 from $252. The consensus target is $214.07. Monday’s final trade was for $290.38 a share.

Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR): Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy but bumped its $95 target price to $100, above the $93.89 consensus target. Monday’s closing price was $92.26.

Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO): Though Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight, its $56 target price popped to $71. The consensus price target is $66.95. Monday’s close was at $66.47.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC): Odeon downgraded the shares from Buy to Hold with a $43.75 target price. That compares with a $49.70 consensus target and Monday’s $44.74 close, which was up almost 3% on the day.

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Goldman Sachs has done a deep dive into the internet digital advertising space, and the top stocks should come as no surprise. Five outstanding internet stocks are also favorites of Wall Street analysts for their advertising strength.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, AT&T, Broadcom, Corning, DraftKings, Eli Lilly, Fortinet, General Mills, Leslie’s, Microsoft, Nvidia, Plug Power, Progressive, PulteGroup and Welltower.

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