4 Sizzling Stocks Top Wednesday’s Wall Street Upgrades and Downgrades

By Lee Jackson Published Jan 17, 8:35AM EST

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4 Sizzling Stocks Top Wednesday’s Wall Street Upgrades and Downgrades — © fredrocko / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Futures traded lower again Wednesday after a miserable day to start the holiday-shortened trading week on Wall Street. All the major indices were crushed. The Dow Jones industrials dropped over 250 points to close at 37,361.12, while the S&P 500 closed down 0.37% at 4,765.98 and the Nasdaq finished the session at 14,944.35. Strategists cited the fading hope for interest rate cuts in March and the massive rally to end 2023 that has left the market overbought.

Bonds

Two-year Treasuries were up about five basis points Wednesday morning; 10-year notes were essentially unchanged.

One reason for the sharp equity decline was Treasury yields spiking higher across the curve, with the 10-year note surging up almost 12 basis points to close at 4.07% while the two-year paper closed the session at 4.23%. With the prospect of rate cuts potentially moving to the summer at the earliest, the sellers had the upper hand Tuesday.

Commodities

Crude oil led commodity prices lower on Wednesday morning.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower despite some production shutdowns in North Dakota due to the weather and the ongoing increase in hostilities in the Middle East. Brent closed trading at $77.74, down 0.52%, while WTI finished the session down 1.17% at 71.83. Despite frigid temperatures across the country, natural gas was down a massive 14% to close at $2.84.

Gold wasn’t spared the Tuesday selling, as the February contract closed trading at $2,032.10, down almost 1%. Many across Wall Street cite Bitcoin, which closed up nearly 2% at $43,320.80, as a potential rival to gold as a hedge against volatility and stock losses. This seems to be a strange conclusion for a volatile asset class with substantial price swings. (The biggest celebrity cryptocurrency losers.)

Here are the top Wall Street analyst upgrades and downgrades for Wednesday, January 17, 2024.

Upgrades

CNH Industries N.V. (NYSE: CNHI | CNHI Price Prediction) from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $19 at Goldman Sachs.

Instacart (Maplebear) Inc. (NASDAQ: CART) from Peer Perform to Outperform with a price target of $35 at Wolfe Research.

Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) from Neutral to Buy with a price target of $27 at BTIG Research.

Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX) from Market Perform to Outperform at William Blair. No price target was given.

Downgrades

Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR) from Outperform to Market Perform, with the price target slashed from $11 to $1, at TD Cowen.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) from Buy to Neutral with a price target of $12 at UBS.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) from Equal Weight to Underweight, and the $74 price target lowered to $50, at Barclays.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) from Neutral to Negative at Susquehanna, which also cuts its $15 price target to $5.

Initiations

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) at Goldman Sachs with a Buy rating and price target of $33.

AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) at Evercore ISI with an Outperform rating and price target of $185.

EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ: SATS) at J.P. Morgan with a Neutral rating and an $18 price target.

Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE: LAD) with an Outperform rating and a price target of $400 at Evercore ISI.

About the Author Lee Jackson →

Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad and diverse career, which included a stint as the creative services director at the NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry and world.

Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans over 30 years, with nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career was marked by his presence on the sell side during pivotal Wall Street events, from the dot.com rise and bubble to the Long Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This is a testament to his resilience and adaptability in the face of market volatility.

Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, acquired from a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing on various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies and workings of Wall Street in a way that only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.

Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.