The futures were trading lower. It was a wild week on Wall Street that saw the biggest sell-off day since March. That was followed by a bounceback, then more selling. All the major indexes closed modestly lower on Thursday, with only the small cap Russell 2000 eking out a gain. Soaring interest rates remain the big issue that is providing a strong headwind for stocks. Another of the biggest concerns, in addition to yields spiking, is the lagging effects of a year and a half of rate hikes, from 0.0% to the current 5.5%, starting to really bite into the economy.

The employment number for September blew away expectations for 170,000, as the final print was a whopping 336,000 jobs added. Jobless claims on Thursday were up slightly to 207,000. With the Speaker of the House position still unresolved, the risk of a government shutdown in November is percolating once again.

Treasury yields were mixed across the curve on Thursday. There was some solid buying between the six-month T-bill and the 10-year note, which finished the day at 4.72%. The two-year paper closed the session at 5.02%. The inversion difference between the latter two is at the narrowest point in over a year. Yet, many across Wall Street, including DoubleLine’s “Bond King” leader Jeffrey Gundlach, feel a recession is on the way in the first half of 2024.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude had another rough day, as sellers once again laid into the two benchmarks. Both closed lower in the biggest pullback in over a year. Brent was last seen down 1.76% at $84.30, while WTI closed trading down another 2.27% at $82.31. This after it closed over $90 early in the week. Natural gas had a huge day, closing up over 7% at $3.17. That is the highest since last January.

After a very rough stretch, gold finally closed higher. The December contract finished the session at $1,834.20, up o.13% on the day. While the bullion held support near a seven-month low, a big volume close below that $1,830 support level could signal more selling. Bitcoin closed the day down 1.07% at $27,489.10.

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, October 6, 2023.

America Movil SAB de C.V. (NYSE: AMX): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and bumped its $23 target price to $25. The consensus target is $21.07. The shares closed on Thursday at $16.78.

Ceridian HCM Holding Inc. (NYSE: CDAY): Needham upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and has an $82 target price. The consensus target is $78.33, and Thursday’s close was at $70.66.

Cheesecake Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: CAKE): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $33 target price. The consensus target is $36.25. The stock closed on Friday at $29.70.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): The Raymond James downgrade to Outperform from Strong Buy included a target price trim to $53 from $57. The consensus target is $53.95. The stock closed on Tuesday at $40.18.

DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sector Weight and has a $106 price target. The consensus target is up at $124.79, and Thursday’s final trade was for $94.20 a share.
Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR): The KeyBanc Capital Markets upgrade was from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $97 price target. The consensus target is up at $124.79. The stock closed on Thursday at $91.76.

Fabrinet Inc. (NYSE: FN): Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Its $230 target price is well above the consensus target of $164.75 and Thursday’s close at $174.12.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 target price. The consensus target is $100.63. Thursday’s close was at $65.43.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $178 target price. The consensus target is $180.85. The last trade for Thursday came in at $157.14.

Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST): CFRA upgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and has a $60 target price. The consensus target is $62.14. Thursday’s close was at $50.09.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY): When Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, its $983 target price increased to $1,040. The consensus target is $1018.44. The stock closed at $900.80 on Thursday.

Parker Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and lifted its target price to $475 from $435. The consensus target is $444.29. The shares closed on Thursday at $383.68.

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Overweight from Sector Weight. The consensus target is $79.64, and Thursday’s close was at $72.14.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB): Raymond James upgraded the stock from Outperform to Strong Buy with a $68 price objective. The consensus target is $65.30. The stock closed on Thursday at $53.22.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $66 target price. The consensus target is $77.76. On Thursday, the closing share price was $56.30.

Shoals Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Northland Capital downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform. It also dropped its target price to $18 from $26. The consensus target is $30.60. Thursday’s close at $15.10 was over 9% lower for the day due to the downgrade.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO): Citigroup downgraded the shares from Buy to Neutral. Its $250 target price fell to $207 as well. The consensus target is $245.46. The stock ended Thursday’s session trading at $205.17.

Trane Technologies PLC (NTSE: TT): BofA Securities raised its Underperform rating to Neutral and its $187 target price to $210. The consensus target is $217. The shares closed on Thursday at $200.82.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING): BofA Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $218 target price. The consensus target is $203.00, and Thursday’s close was at $182.88.

Yeti Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: YETI): The downgrade at Exane BNP Paribas was from Outperform to Neutral with a $42 target price. The consensus target is $50.50. The stock closed on Thursday at $40.07.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included America Movil, Deere, Fluor, Infosys, Lockheed Martin, LyondellBasell Industries, Netflix, ON Semiconductor, PPL, Salesforce and Sunrun.

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