The futures were trading higher after a wild day across Wall Street on Thursday that saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 explode higher early on the strength of blowout results from AI chip giant Nvidia, and then all the major indexes reversed and ended the day lower in a big way. The Nasdaq was down almost 2%.

All eyes are now focused on Federal Reserve Chair Powell who will deliver his annual Jackson Hole Symposium speech Friday, and all indications are that he will continue to lean very hawkish and interest rate decisions will continue on a “data dependent” basis.

Investors will have to wait until September 13 for the August consumer price index data, and if it trends higher, there may be another interest rate increase at the end of September. Another 25-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate would lift the benchmark lending rate to 5.50% to 5.75%, the highest level since 2001.

Treasury yields closed Thursday higher across the curve, after massive buying Wednesday as investors took advantage of the highest yields for some maturities in over a decade. The 10-year note closed the day at 4.24%, while the shorter two-year paper was last seen at 5.02%, a level that often attracts buyers. The 78-basis-point inversion is still cause for concern, as it indicates the potential for recession down the road.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed flat Thursday, as growing concerns over the U.S. and China economies are threatening what has been a strong summer rally for the black gold. While a slight down tick for the benchmarks, traders jumped on the early weakness and almost pushed both benchmarks positive by the close. Brent closed at $83.20, while WTI finished the session at $78.88. Natural gas closed Thursday up modestly at $2.51.

Gold was also flat Thursday, after the bullion showed some signs of life earlier in the week Analysts cited the drop in U.S. durable goods in July and the decline in the weekly jobless claims as a slight headwind. The December contract for the precious metal closed at $1,944.40. Bitcoin was hammered again, closing the day down 1.4% at $26,058.90, a stunning 16% decline since early July.

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 Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, August 25, 2023.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating and lifted its $47 target price to $56. The consensus target is $46.50. Thursday’s closing share price was $50.45.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating, and the analyst boosted the $175 target price to $185. The consensus target is $169.71. The stock closed at $131.84 on Thursday.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC): Wedbush raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and has a $19 target price. The consensus target is just $1.99, which likely has not been adjusted for the stock’s reverse split. The shares closed 26% lower on Thursday at $14.43.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI): Piper Sandler downgraded the stock from Overweight to Neutral with a $190 target price. The consensus target is $202.25. Thursday’s close was at $173.69.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH): Citing falling earnings estimates and stock price, Zacks selected this chemical company as its Bear of the Day. The stock has traded as high as $114.36 in the past year but closed most recently at $84.37. That is down more than 21% year to date.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS): Wolfe Research upgraded the shares to Outperform from Peer Perform, but its $104 target price is less than the consensus target of $114.15. The stock closed on Thursday at $89.13.

EPAM Systems Inc. (NYSE: EPAM): Scotiabank initiated coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $265 target price. The consensus target is $278.50. The stock closed at $242.10 on Thursday.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL): Bernstein cut its Outperform rating to Market Perform and its $230 price target all the way to $160. That compares with the $200.47 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $150.72.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Telsey Advisory reiterated an Outperform rating but slashed its $36 target price to $22. The consensus target is $24.11. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Thursday at $17.43.

Genmab A/S (NASDAQ: GMAB): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $44 target price. The consensus target is $44.41. Thursday’s final trade for $37.30 a share.

Globant S.A. (NYSE: GLOB): Scotiabank initiated coverage with a Sector Outperform rating and a $210 target price. The consensus target is $281.70. The stock closed on Thursday at $186.93.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: IART): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $44 target price. The consensus target is $48 for now. Thursday’s $41.03 close was down over 3% for the day.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight came with a target price cut to $75 from $112. The consensus target is $81.25 for now. Thursday’s close at $65.40 was down almost 3% after the downgrade. The company cut full-year sales guidance earlier this month.
Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA): Scotiabank resumed coverage with a Sector Outperform rating and a $61 target price. The consensus target is $67.00. The stock closed on Thursday at $56.24.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP): TD Cowen reiterated an Outperform rating and bumped its $85 target price up to $90. The consensus target is $76.30. The stock closed on Thursday at $75.53.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Stifel upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy, and its $440 target price jumped to $600. The consensus target is $524.19. Shares closed barely higher on Thursday at $471.63, while trading as high as $502.30 early in the session after the company posted huge earnings and strong guidance. However, the stock may have been a victim of its own success and investors bought the rumors and sold the news.

Peloton Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: PTON): BofA Securities reduced its Buy rating to Neutral and its $13 target price to $6.50. The consensus target is $9.83. The stock was last seen trading at $5.51 on Thursday.

Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Its $125 target price is well above the consensus target of $96.82. The shares ended Thursday’s session over 2% higher at $93.44.

Vizio Holding Corp. (NYSE: VZIO): When BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Buy, its target price fell to $6 from $11. The consensus target is $11.92. The stock closed on Thursday at $5.55.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM): The BofA Securities upgrade to Neutral from Underweight included a target price hike to $146 from $108. The consensus target is $132.16. The shares closed on Thursday at $139.63

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL): Barclays initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is $67.82. Thursday’s close was at $ 57.01.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amazon.com, American Electric Power, Amgen, BHP, Duke Energy, General Mills, KeyCorp, Lowe’s Companies, Macy’s, Marvell Technology, Netflix, Southern Company, SunRun, Super Micro Computer and Walmart.

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