The futures traded lower on Wednesday, after the major indexes finished Tuesday higher on the day and the Dow Jones industrial average extended its winning streak to an 11th day. The Federal Reserve is likely to announce another 25-basis-point rate hike in the afternoon. That will bring the federal funds rate to 5.25% to 5.50%, the highest since 2001. The written statement may show that Fed Chair Powell and the rest of the voting members will keep a close eye on the incoming data and likely not rule out the possibility of yet another increase in September.

Treasury yields were up across the curve, as sellers came in Tuesday pushing those yields to their highest levels in a month. While the aforementioned rate increase is all but a given, the toss-up is truly what happens between now and September. With J.P. Morgan coming out Tuesday with a very bearish outlook for the balance of the year, some may start adding back safe-haven government debt after Wednesday’s announcement. The benchmark 10-year note closed at 3.89%, while the two-year finished Tuesday at 4.88%. The nearly 100 basis-point inversion still signals a recession headed our way.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate continued to move higher on Tuesday, closing up by over 1% at $83.61 and $79.64, respectively. Once again, demand in China remains the focus, and with Saudi oil revenue hitting its lowest level in almost two years, you can bet that yet another extension of the production cut from the Middle East giant could be on the way after this month’s cut was extended through August. Natural gas closed up 1.5% at $2.73.

Gold finished Tuesday modestly higher at $1,966, and top analysts feel that if the precious metal can continue to hold the support level at $1,950, a solid rally back over the $2,000 level is possible. Bitcoin closed slightly higher at $29,229.50.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday 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 26, 2023.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH): Northcoast raised its Neutral rating to Buy, and its price target is $40. The consensus target is just $31.75. The stock closed on Tuesday at $31.28.

C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI): Northland Capital started coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $40 target. The consensus target is $27.11. The stock closed Tuesday at $40.36, up almost 6% for the day on optimism for enterprise spending.
Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): The Wolfe Research upgrade was from Peer Perform to Outperform with a $140 target price. The consensus target is $103.06. Tuesday’s $115.30 close was up almost 4% on the day.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Hold rating and a $128 target price. The consensus target is $142.28. Tuesday’s last trade was for $139.57 a share.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS): While Citigroup cut its Buy rating to Neutral, the analyst also raised the target price to $400 from $370. The consensus target is $343.85. The shares closed on Tuesday at $354.69.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU): KeyBanc Capital Markets resumed coverage with an Overweight rating. Its price target of $425 compares with a consensus target of $425.43 and Tuesday’s closing share price of $382.12.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): New Street’s upgrade was from Neutral to Buy with a target price of $350. The consensus target is $279.13. Tuesday’s close was at $294.47.

Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLY): Morgan Stanley resumed coverage with an Equal Weight rating and has a $34 target price. The consensus target is up at $48.47. Tuesday’s close was at $40.39.

Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST): Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and bumped its $62 target price to $65. The consensus target is $61.76. Tuesday’s close was at $58.08.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and sliced its $135 target price to $114. The consensus target is $138.06, and shares closed on Tuesday at $123.55.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Susquehanna reiterated a Positive rating and raised its target price to $145 from $135. The consensus target is $122.24. Tuesday’s close was at $125.07.

Shift4 Payments Inc. (NYSE: FOUR): Mizhou started coverage with a Buy rating and an $80 price objective. The consensus target is $81.67. The shares closed on Tuesday at $67.28.

SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI): Stephens started coverage with an Equal Weight taring and a $7 target price. The consensus target is $8.04. The stock closed on Tuesday at $9.33.
Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM): Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and trimmed its $45 target price to $42. The consensus target is $35.25. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $39.20.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $170 target price. The consensus target is $151.04, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $151.03.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut its target price to $226 from $270. The consensus target is $252.65. Tuesday’s close was at $212.72.

Trade Desk Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD): Its Bull of the Day sits at the “crossroads of the digital revolution, and online marketing” says Zacks. Also, Needham reiterated its Buy rating and lifted its $80 target price to $100. The consensus target is $77.35, and shares last closed at $83.23.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT): Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral. It also raised its $145 price target to $210, well above the consensus target of $152.30. Tuesday’s close was at $159.18.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS): When Atlantic Equities downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral, its target price dropped to $76 from $113. The consensus target is $103.54. The stock closed at $85.65 on Tuesday.

ZScaler Inc. (NYSE: ZS): BTIG Research raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $185 target price. The consensus target is $174.74. Tuesday’s $155.21 close was up almost 5% for the day due to the upgrade and positive commentary.

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Five top U.S. oil exploration and production stocks pay among the biggest dividends in the sector and are offering outstanding entry points, so they make sense for growth and income investors looking to initiate or add to energy holdings.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Express, Apple, AppLovin, Conagra Brands, D.R. Horton, Estee Lauder, Juniper Networks, Livent, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Shopify, Tesla, and Twilio.

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