The futures traded lower as investors get ready to end the holiday-shortened trading week that has proven to live up to the September “worst month of the year” title so far. All the major indexes closed lower again on Thursday, with the exception of the Dow Jones industrials, which eked out a small gain. The same issues are being cited for the ongoing weakness, not the least of which is the continued strength in the dollar, and the concerns over energy prices that have soared to the highest level since November of last year. Needless to say, all eyes will be focused on the consumer price index numbers for August that will come out next Wednesday.

Treasury yields finished the day lower across the curve, with the buyers showing up late in the day, after a wild trading week that saw some big moves both higher and lower. The inflation data is also weighing on the bond complex as the market has pretty much priced in no move by the Federal Reserve when it meets later in the month. A spike in the inflation number could send more volatility into an already nervous sector. The 10-year note closed Thursday at 4.26%, while the two-year paper was last seen at 4.95%. The ongoing inversion suggests recession could be around the corner.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished Thursday modestly lower, as some profit-taking likely was behind the small move down as U.S. gasoline pump prices hit their highest seasonal level in a decade. This after Goldman Sachs was reported to say that oil could trade up as high as $107 next year if current production cuts by OPEC and others stay in place. Brent closed the day down 0.64% at $90.02, while WTI finished the day at $86.97, down 0.65%. Natural gas closed flat at $2.51.

Gold finished the day lower as U.S. weekly jobless claims came in lower than expected. The December contract finished the day at $1,942.20. The strong dollar has also kept the pressure on the bullion that is having a difficult time breaking through resistance. Bitcoin had its first up day in a while, closing Thursday at $25,873.40, a gain of 0.49%.

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 Friday, September 8, 2023.

AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV): Alembic Global Advisors downgraded the shares from Overweight to Neutral with a $115 target price. The consensus target is $118.50. The shares closed on Thursday at $113.08.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $145 target price. The consensus target is $105.99. The shares closed at $104.07 on Thursday.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $35 target price. The consensus target is $35.54. The closing share price on Thursday was $28.13.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE: BAM): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $40 target price. The consensus target is $36.97. The shares ended Thursday trading at $34.42.

Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET): BofA Securities began coverage with an Underperform rating and a $52 target price. The consensus target is $71.13. The shares closed on Thursday at $63.53.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): B. Riley Securities cut its Buy rating to Neutral and its $125 target price to $101. The consensus target is $137.50. The shares closed on Thursday at $96.28.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR): Guggenheim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $200 target price. The consensus target is lower at $187.38. Thursday’s close was at $168.03.

Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL): Barclays downgraded the shares from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $53 target price. The consensus target is $64.82. Thursday’s closing share price was $68.98.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG): Citing inflation as a headwind, Zacks selected this discount retailer as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $261.59 in the past year but closed most recently at $123.72.

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $35 price target. The consensus target is $33.00. The stock closed on Thursday at $26.45.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS): HSBC Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $403 target price. The consensus target is $383.67. Thursday’s close was at $321.96.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Stifel began coverage with a Buy rating and a $350 price target. That compares with a $342.79 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $328.42.

Jabil Inc. (NYSE: JBL): Barclays began coverage with an Overweight rating. Its $134 price target is well above the consensus target of $120.38 and Thursday’s close at $108.65.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Stifel started coverage with a Buy rating and a $270 price target. The consensus target is $246.73, and the stock closed on Thursday at $233.61.
LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA): Barclays started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $275 price target. The consensus target is $263.67. The stock closed at $235.56 on Thursday.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Wells Fargo’s upgrade was from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $310 target price. The consensus target is up at $328.69. Thursday’s final trade was for $278.33 a share.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC): As Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Neutral from Sell, its price objective rose to $150 from $113. The consensus target is $156.08. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $143.08.

Roku Inc. (NYSE: ROKU): Loop Capital downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold with an $85 target price, while Needham reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $85 target price to $100. The consensus target is $83.67. The stock closed almost 3% lower on Thursday at $83.62.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Barclays downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $65 target price. The consensus target is $63.47. The stock closed down almost 11% on Thursday at $63.44 on no news we could source except the downgrade.

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN): When Truist Financial upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, the analyst lifted the $263 target price to $290. The consensus target is $258.75. The stock closed on Thursday at $245.50.

Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT): Evercore ISI’s downgrade to In Line from Outperform included a target price cut to $28 from $50. The consensus target is $46.43 for now. The stock closed on Thursday at $24.87, down almost 20% for the day, after missing second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates.

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Seven blue chip stocks with big and dependable dividends are very well suited for what could be a difficult end to 2023, as the companies should hold their ground much better in an inflationary and recessionary stretch like the one we are in now.

Eight top Dividend Aristocrats pay among the biggest dividends in the sectors that typically do well during a recession. With even moderate appreciation in their share prices, investors could be looking at double-digit total return potential over the next 12 months.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Airlines, Amgen, Block, Chewy, First Solar, Nvidia, Southwest Airlines, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Toast.

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