Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading flat as we get ready to start the new trading week, and despite a strong rebound last Wednesday through Friday, we still ended with our second straight losing week. As the smoke cleared from the Greenland turmoil and no new tariffs were imposed on Europe, investors renewed scrutiny of fourth-quarter earnings, which so far have been solid. With 1/5 of the S&P 500 set to report and hundreds of other stocks also releasing data, plus more economic reports set to hit the tape this week, there could be another batch of volatility-driven swings coming our way to move stocks. The Dow Jones Industrials fell by 0.58% to close at 49,098, while the S&P 500 ended the Friday session flat at 6,915, down just 0.03%. The big loser on Friday was the Russell 2000, which has been the leading index so far this year. It closed down 1.82% at 2,669.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were down across almost the entire yield curve, extending a three-day recovery, as the market stabilized following a volatile week driven by trade tensions, potential tariff threats from President Trump regarding Greenland, and global issues, particularly the Japanese bond market turbulence, which saw yields rise on some maturities by almost 30 basis points. The 30-year long bond finished Friday at 4.83%, while the benchmark ten-year note was last seen at 4.23%.
Oil and Gas:
Prices across the energy complex rose by almost 3% on Friday, driven primarily by intensified geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as the U.S. has dispatched an “armada” of warships toward Iran, raising concerns about potential supply disruptions. In addition, new U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil vessels and reports of production issues in Kazakhstan further added to the upward pressure for the black gold. Brent Crude closed Friday at $65.88, up 2.84%, while West Texas Intermediate ended trading at $61.07, up 2.88%. Natural gas extended its parabolic move, tacking on another 4.56% to close at $5.28. Over the course of last week, it rose by more than 70% as frigid weather sparked demand and heightened concerns about potential production freeze-offs.
Gold:
After another stellar week for precious metals, it continued on Friday, with Gold finishing the day up 0.96% at $4,983. During the week, the analysts at Goldman Sachs lifted their year-end target for Gold to $5,400 from $5,000. Silver was last seen Friday at $103.08, up a whopping 7.31%.
Crypto:
Crypto markets saw some severe downward pressure on Friday with major cryptocurrencies dropping as investors shifted toward safe-haven assets like gold amid rising U.S.-NATO tensions, reversing some of the week’s earlier gains. Bitcoin hovered around $89,500 after a 0.4% decline, while Ethereum dropped 2.1% and XRP fell 2.5% in early trading, following a volatile week of “yo-yoing” prices. As of 8 A.M. EST, Bitcoin was trading at $87,710, down 1.1% in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,899, down 1.3%.
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 Monday, January 26, 2026.
Upgrades:
- AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP | APP Price Prediction) was raised to Buy from Hold at Needham, which has set a $700 target price for the shares.
- Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI, which boosted the target price for the legacy tech giant to $100 from $80
- Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank with a $100 target price objective.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Rothschild & Co. Redburn, which lifted the target price to $900 from $740.
- Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was raised to Accumulate from Sell at Phillip Securities, which bumped the target price to $100 from $95.
Downgrades:
- Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at Phillip Securities, with a $200 target price objective.
- BOK Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: BOKF) was cut to Neutral from Buy at DA Davidson, which lifted the target price to $135 from $125.
- Clearwater Analytics Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWAN) was cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS with a $24.55 target price.
- Varonis Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNS) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley with a $41 price target.
- Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at Scotiabank with a $335 target price.
Initiations:
- AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs with a $121 target price.
- Chime Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: CHYM) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Rothschild & Co. Redburn with a $29 target price.
- Crescent Energy Inc. (NYSE: CRGY) was resumed in coverage with a Hold rating at Jefferies, which trimmed the target price to $9 from $10.
- Dutch Bros Inc. (NYSE: BROS) was initiated with a Buy rating at Citigroup with an $82 target price.
- Evercore Inc. (NYSE: EVR) was started with a Buy rating at Bank of America, with a $435 target price.
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