Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are trading flat after investors and traders returned from the Christmas holiday to find a lump of coal in their stockings. All the major indices closed lower on Monday, with the technology sector leading the way on end-of-year profit-taking. With only one full trading day left in 2025 and the market set for an early New Year’s Eve close, we could see some of the same sellers return today. The Nasdaq led the way lower on Monday, closing down 0.50% at 23,474, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.35% to end the session at 6,905. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last seen at 48,461 on Monday, down 0.51%.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were lower Monday across the Treasury curve as buyers returned from the holiday, looking to grab bonds, especially longer-dated maturities. Despite bond traders preparing for a heavy schedule of U.S. Treasury debt auctions throughout the holiday-shortened week, which tends to increase bond supply and push prices down, the opposite happened Monday. The 30-year-long bond closed trading at 4.80%. In comparison, the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.11%.
Oil and Gas:
The energy complex returned to a more rewarding Monday, with both major benchmarks finishing the day strongly higher, as did natural gas. Traders cited stalled Russia-Ukraine peace talks and tensions in Yemen as the reasons for the sharp moves higher across the board. It’s also a good bet, with the year coming to an end, traders closed out short positions that have grown steadily over the fourth quarter. Brent Crude finished Monday at $61.75, up 1.83%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $57.85, up 1.96%. The big winner was natural gas, which finished the session up a whopping 6.8% at $4.66 on brutally cold holiday weather and rising LNG exports.
Gold:
After what seems like the longest precious metals rally in forever, both Gold and Silver finished Monday down big after both closing Friday at all-time highs. The biggest reason for the sell-off was simple: year-end profit-taking was undoubtedly the main driver of the sharp declines. This, despite UBS calling for $5,000 Gold by the third quarter of 2026 and $5,400 if geopolitical and economic issues surface. Gold closed down 4.44% at $4,332, while Silver was last seen at $ 71.40, down 7.8% after surging over the $80 level and experiencing a sharp reversal.
Crypto:
The crypto market was highly volatile during Monday’s trading. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly surged above $90,000 before tumbling and paring gains, while major altcoins like Ethereum and Solana saw modest gains before also pulling back. At 8 AM EST, Bitcoin was quoted at $87,830, while Ethereum was at $2,978, both modestly higher over the last 24 hours.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. 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.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Tuesday, December 30. 2025.
Upgrades:
- BHP Group Ltd. (NYSE: BHP | BHP Price Prediction) Argus upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold with a $68 target price.
Downgrades:
- Digital Bridge Group Inc. (NYSE: DBRG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Cowen with a $16 target price.
- Mereo BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: MREO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies with a $0.50 target.
Initiations:
- Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was started with a Buy rating at GF Securities with a $396.92 target price.
- AvePoint Inc. (NASDAQ: AVPT) was started with a Buy rating at Stephens, which has an $18 target price.
- Commvault Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) was initiated with a Buy rating at Steheens with a $162 target.
- Ero Copper Corp. (NYSE: ERO) was initiated with a Buy rating at Freedoem Capital, which has set a $32 target for the shares.
- Gambling.com Croup Ltd. (NASDAQ: GAMB) was started with a Buy rating at Freedom Capital with an $8.50 target price.
- Linblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark with an $18 target price.
Reiterations and Price Target Changes:
- Applied Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: APLD) Citizens reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $40 target price.
- Birkenstock Holding plc. (NYSE: BIRK) Bernstein lowered its target price on the company to $55 from $63 and kept a Market Perform rating on the shares.
- CarGurus Inc. (NASDAQ: CARG) BTIG boosted the target price for the stock to $44 from $39 and maintained a Buy rating.
- Etsy Inc. (NYSE: ETSY) BTIG lowered the target price for the stock to $74 from $81 and kept a Buy rating on the company.
- Genius Sports Ltd. (NYSE: GENI) was named a 2026 top idea at Benchmark, which has a Buy rating on the shares and a $16 target price.
- Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock with a $548 target price.
- Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) Citizens raised the target price for the stock to $185 from $165 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks