The futures were slightly lower Wednesday, after another risk-off day in which the specter of much higher inflation once again triggered the selling. The Producer Price Index climbed 0.8% last month, easily exceeding Wall Street expectations of an 0.5% advance. The increase in wholesale prices in the past 12 months rose to 9.6% from 8.8%, marking the biggest advance since a major change in the index in 2009.
Wholesale inflation likely is rising at the fastest pace in 40 years. However, it should be noted the index was recalculated in 2014, and those crunching the numbers are using somewhat different methodology. Investors, traders and, most importantly, consumers hardly need any confirmation from the government on skyrocketing prices.
Top strategists across Wall Street are focused on the potential for a faster taper to the quantitative easing program and the distinct possibility for an earlier rate increase liftoff. All that is driven by big increases in energy costs and other inflation issues, and, while perhaps easing some, the ongoing supply chain concerns and stagflation worries remain front and center.
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 Wednesday, December 15, 2021.
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Underweight from Neutral and has a $120 price target. The consensus target is $134.67. The closing share price on Tuesday was $114.24.
Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI): UBS started coverage of the supermarket giant’s stock with a Neutral rating and a $33 price target. The consensus target is $32.94. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $30.25.
Apartment Income REIT Corp. (NYSE: AIRC): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and lifted the target price to $60 from $52. The consensus target is $55.10. The stock closed on Tuesday at $52.85.
AppLovin Corp. (NYSE: APP): Morgan Stanley raised its Equal Weight rating to Overweight and boosted the $87 price target to $120. The consensus target is $114.64. The stock closed at $87.53 on Tuesday.
Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Colliers Securities started coverage of the solar power stock with a Buy rating and a $23 price target. The consensus target is $25.82. The last Tuesday trade was recorded at $17.50.
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral and nudged the target price to $2,690 from $2,620. The consensus target is up at $2,709.39. The stock closed Tuesday at $2,124.93.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and has a $185 price objective. The consensus target is $175.42. The stock closed Tuesday at $176.06.
Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY): Goldman Sachs started coverage of the golf equipment leader with a Neutral rating and a $29 price target. The consensus price objective is much higher at $43, and the stock closed on Tuesday at $27.09.
CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW): Evercore ISI resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $225 price target. The consensus target is just $207.38. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $189.69.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): JPMorgan resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $70 price target. The consensus target is $78.49. The final trade on Tuesday came in at $65.85.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Stifel started coverage on the gold and copper mining giant with a Buy rating and a $48 price target. The consensus target is $42.29. The shares closed on Tuesday at $37.96.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME): Zacks says that while WallStreetBets managed to rally millions of nostalgia-ridden freshman traders into this stock, it looks like the fun is coming to an end. Shares last closed at $147.69, and the consensus price target is just $83.00.
Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC): Colliers Securities started coverage on the generator leader with a Buy rating and $490 target price. That compares with the higher $522.94 consensus target and Tuesday’s final print of $341.30.
24/7 Wall St.General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD): UDS upgraded the defense heavyweight to Buy from Neutral and raised the $220 price target to $245. The consensus target is $227.76. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $203.47.
L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX): UBS cut its Buy rating to Neutral and lowered the price target to $235 from $260. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $213.00 per share.
Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLCO): Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of the casino company from Equal Weight to Overweight with a $13 price objective. The stock was last seen on Tuesday trading at $9.59.
Navitas Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: NVTS): BofA Securities began coverage with a Neutral rating and a $20 price target. The consensus target is $22. The shares closed on Tuesday at $15.94.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE): Wells Fargo resumed coverage of the shoe and sports apparel giant with an Equal Weight rating and a $175 price objective. The consensus target is up at $181.16. Tuesday’s closing share price was $165.40.
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS): Redburn downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy. The pharmaceutical stock has traded in a 52-week range of $79.34 to $98.52 and has a $104 consensus price objective. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $80.59.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OLLI): Goldman Sachs cut the stock to Sell from Neutral and slashed the $77 price target to $48. The consensus target is $64.71. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $50.61.
Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Buy and slashed the target price to $110 from $142. That is versus the consensus target of $140.27 and Tuesday closing trade of $116.86, which was down almost 3%.
Sensata Technologies Holding PLC (NYSE: ST): Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to In Line from Outperform and trimmed the target price to $63 from $68. The consensus target is $65.53. The stock retreated almost 4% on Tuesday close at $57.30.
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM): Zacks has selected it as the Bull of the Day stock. The analyst suggests that the global economy’s penchant for advancing technologies will drive an insatiable appetite for lithium positioning recently discounted SQM to take flight. Shares last closed at $54.15 and have a consensus price target of $64.72.
The semiconductor team at Truist Securities feels there is still positive upside potential to current estimates. These four companies are true industry leaders and giants that have a tailwind for the future.
JPMorgan has made some big changes to its software stock ratings.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, Beyond Meat, Chesapeake Energy, Chewy, CrowdStrike, DraftKings, Qualtrics International, SAP, Sono, Tata Motors and Unity Software. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Adobe, Comcast, Ford, GM and more.
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