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Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allbirds, Antero Resources, AutoNation, Blackstone, Chesapeake Energy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, EQT Corporation, Lam Research, Regions Financial, Snap, World Wrestling Entertainment and More

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The futures are trading lower Tuesday after a tepid start to the week where the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 posted small gains while the Nasdaq was down 0.43%. Some Wall Street analysts have suggested that we are basically in another bear market rally, and some believe that if the S&P 500 should hit or cross the 4000 level, that is the place to sell the rally or to put short positions back on. With the major tech players stepping up to the earnings plate starting today, and a flood of additional S&P 500 company earnings results this week, the results will be coming in fast and furious.

The sellers finally returned to the Treasury market as the bond crowd continued to size in the likely 75-basis-point increase to the fed funds rate this week. Yields across the Treasury curve were higher, while the two-year and 10-year note inversion remained in place yet again. The two-year closed trading at a 3.02% yield while the 10-year closed at a 2.82% yield. An inversion often signals a recession, and we will get preliminary second-quarter gross domestic product numbers this week.

Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate closed higher on Monday while natural gas continued its parabolic move higher, with the commodity now closing in on the $9 mark up over 5% yesterday. Gold traded lower once again while Bitcoin also backed up yesterday down over 2% after a big run off the recent lows.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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 across Wall Street on Tuesday July 26, 2022.

Allbirds, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIRD) Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and has a $9 price target. The consensus target across Wall Street is $8.70. The last trade Monday was filled at $5.14.

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE: AR) Scotiabank resumed coverage on the shares with a Sector Perform rating and a $47 target. The Wall Street consensus target for the company is set just higher at $49. The shares closed Monday’s trading session at $39.17 up close to 7% likely on the jump in natural gas.

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) Seaport Research Partners upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $180 target price. The consensus target across Wall Street is posted at $161.14. The shares closed Monday at $114.06.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) Keefe Bruyette downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform while lowering the price target on the company to $115 from $127. The consensus is set at $127.33. The stock was last seen Monday at $97.26.

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $32 target. The consensus was not available. The shares ended Monday at $28.75.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Scotiabank resumed coverage with a Sector Perform rating and a $111 target price. That is versus the higher $129.36 consensus and Monday’s closing trade of $92.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Baird reiterated its Outperform rating on the popular Mexican food restaurant and has a big $1800 target price. The consensus is posted at $1779.52. The last Monday trade was posted at $1328.87.

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) Scotiabank resumed coverage on the energy giant with a Sector Outperform rating and a $54 target. The consensus is set at $55.81. The last trade on Monday was recorded at $44.98 up close to 7% as natural gas prices continued to soar higher.

Hanger Inc. (NASDAQ: HNGR) Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and lowered its target price to $18.75 from $24. The consensus is posted at $26. The last trade on Monday was reported at $18.51.

Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) UBS downgraded the chemical giant to Neutral from Buy and has a $40 price target for the stock. The consensus is $40.17. The final trade Monday hit the tape at $29.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) Stifel downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has a $415 target price for the shares. The consensus across Wall Street is set much higher at $521.14. The final trade for Monday was filled at $375.56 down close to 5%.

InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) BofA Securities initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and a $60 target price, The consensus is a stunning $104 for now. Monday’s last trade hit the tape at $57.41 down almost 9% on now negative news we could source.

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Barclays downgraded the semiconductor capital equipment giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashed the price target to $450 from $625. That is versus the much-higher $598.62 consensus price objective and Monday’s closing print of $457.45.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) Piper Sandler resumed coverage on the sports shoe and apparel giant with a Neutral rating and a $115 price target. The consensus is posted at much higher at $140.23. The stock closed trading Monday at $109.28.

Open Lending Corporation (NASDAQ: LPRO) Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut the price target to $8 from $14. The consensus is $24.50 for now. The last Monday trade was filled at $10.17 down almost 8%.

Owl Rock Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCC) Wells Fargo cut the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight and trimmed the price target to $12 from $13.75. The consensus target is $15.25. The shares closed Monday at $12.43.

Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the stock to go with its $335 price target objective. The consensus is set much higher at $371.89. The last trade on Monday was reported at $317.04.

Pegasystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) Macquarie downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $54 target price. The consensus is $90.90. The shares closed down 4.5% Monday at $47.82.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Baird is keeping a Neutral rating on the bank after the company posted solid second-quarter results. The analysts have a $23 target that is in line with the $23.88 consensus. The last trade on Monday came in at $21.29 up over 3%.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) All of Wall Street dogpiled the stock after a horrible dumpster-fire earnings miss last week. Morgan Stanley joined the party and downgraded the shares to Underweight from Overweight and cut the price target in half to $8 from $17. The consensus target is $25.85 for now. The last Monday trade came in at $9.95.

Weber Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBR) BofA Securities downgraded the popular grill maker to Underperfrom from Neutral and sliced the target price to $5 from $9. The consensus is set at $8. The shares were hammered Monday, closing down almost 13% after the CEO left the company and sales have slumped.

Westlake Corporation (NUSE: WLK) Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Overweight to Neutral with a $115 target price. The consensus is posted at $129.87. The stock was last seen Monday at $92.19.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) Loop Capital upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and body-slammed the price target to $90 from $159. The consensus target is posted at $65.80. The shares closed Monday at $71.81 up over 8%. Vince McMahon’s departure from the wrestling giant was cited as one reason for the gain.

Here are Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.

Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, Blue Apron, Enterprise Products Partners, GSK, Nordstrom, Southwestern Energy, Tesla and More


They included Activision Blizzard, Autodesk, Boston Beer Company, CBRE Group, Etsy, Peloton, Snap, Splunk, United Airlines and more.

 

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