Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading lower on this Thursday, but what a difference a month makes: 30 days ago, the worries over inflation and the spiraling situation in Iran were weighing heavily on the stock market. On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 hit new all-time highs, driven by hopes for an extended U.S.-Iran ceasefire and strong corporate earnings. While the Nasdaq set an intraday record for the fifth time in six sessions and the S&P 500 finished at a record, the Dow Jones Industrials and the Russell 2000 did not print all-time highs, but both finished the session strongly at 49,490 and 2,780, respectively. The Nasdaq closed Wednesday’s trading at 24,657, up 1.64%, while the venerable S&P 500 was last seen at 7,137, up 1.05%, as the duo printed those new records.
Treasury Bonds:
Just like Tuesday, with stocks rallying higher, the sellers emerged again, as yields were modestly higher over the belly and long end of the Treasury market on Wednesday. Analysts cited resurgent inflation concerns and escalating tensions in the Middle East, with oil prices climbing, prompting markets to reassess how quickly the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates. Investors are increasingly focused on the risk of stubborn inflation, driving bond yields higher as they demand greater compensation for holding longer-duration debt. The 30-year bond closed at 4.91%, while the 10-year note was last at 4.31%.
Oil and Gas:
While some across the energy complex welcomed President Trump’s extension of the ceasefire, the ongoing instability in the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively shut, has kept sellers leaning on the major oil benchmarks. Brent Crude closed Wednesday at $101.40, up 2.99%, while West Texas Intermediate finished the session at $92.56, up 3.22%. Natural gas had another solid day, closing at $2,71, up 0.51%.
Gold:
Gold had another positive day, consolidating near $4,800. This comes as Chris Mancini, a portfolio manager for the Gabelli Gold Fund, put forth the proposition that Gold will become the primary alternative to the U.S. dollar, and they see a continued rise to the $6,000 level. The final trade on Wednesday was posted at $4, 737 up 0.39%, while the last print for Silver came in at $77.54, up 1.31%.
Crypto:
The Cryptocurrency sector continued its strong rally, with Bitcoin surging over 2% to top $78,000, reaching its highest level in more than 10 weeks. Analysts cited the extension of the ceasefire and some potential short covering as Bitcoin continues to try and break out from a months-long trading range. At the same time, the broader market also saw significant gains, with the CoinDesk MemeCoin Index rising 3.4% and tokens like DOGE adding 3.8%. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was quoted at $77,716, while Ethereum was trading at $2,331.
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 Thursday, April 23, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX | BSX Price Prediction) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Nephron Research, which has an $85 target price for the company.
- McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Rothschild Redburn & Co, which lifted the target price for the fast-food giant to $306 from $260.
- Murphy USA (NYSE: MUSA) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Bank of America, which launched the target price for the shares to $550 from $350.
- On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ON) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley, which raised the target price for the shares to $115 from $64.
- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded to Equal Weight from underweight at Barclays, which raised the target price for the legacy tech company to $250 from $175.
Downgrades:
- ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist Financial, which slashed the target price for the stock to $33 from $60.
- CSX (NYSE: CSX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Vertical Research, with a $44 target price.
- Deckers Outdoor (NYSE: DECK) was cut to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, which has a $133 target price for the shares.
- Madison Square Garden Entertainment (NYSE: MSGS) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, which bumped the target price for the shares to $355 from $337.
- TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC, with a $234 target price.
Initiations:
- Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) was initiated with a Buy rating at Rothschild Redburn & Co, which has set a $170 target price for the shares.
- Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) was started with a Neutral rating at Rothschild Redburn & Co, which has a $40 target price
- Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) was initiated with a Buy rating at HSBC, with a $96 target price for the stock.
- Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) was initiated with a Buy rating at DZ Bank, with a $175 target price objective.
- Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ: STRL) was started with an Overweight rating at KeyBanc, with a $572 target price.
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