Thursday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, AT&T, Chevron, Foot Locker, Shell, T-Mobile, Williams-Sonoma and More

Investing

Published: July 22, 2021 8:45 am

Last Updated: July 22, 2021 8:50 am

The futures were mixed on Thursday after investors enjoyed a second snapback day of stock gains on Wednesday, as all the major indexes and the transportation index closed higher. With the second-quarter earnings reporting season in full swing, most companies so far have posted very solid results. However, some on Wall Street are starting to tap the brakes. Many have attributed the two-day bounce to short-term oversold conditions, but the reality is that there is a host of very bearish technical divergences as we head toward the seasonally weak August to October time period.

Despite the remerging COVID-19 concerns, many across Wall Street are also leery of the beginning of the tapering of the quantitative easing program after the clear building of inflationary pressures, despite the fact the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be one reason for the continued moves higher in the equity markets even after sell-offs. Also note that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 2021.

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 on Thursday, July 22, 2021.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): BTIG Research upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $170 price target. That compares with a slightly higher $172.50 consensus target and Wednesday’s final print of $139.25 per share.

AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX): Though Deutsche Bank downgraded the shares to Sell from Hold, it also raised the price target to $48 from $32. The consensus target $47.72. The shares popped 4% on Wednesday to close at $56.54 a share.