Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Annaly Capital, Clorox, Constellation Energy, Li Auto, Penn National Gaming, Teladoc, Transocean and More

Investing

Published: February 9, 2022 8:57 am

Last Updated: February 9, 2022 9:08 am

The futures were up across the board Wednesday, after a strong risk-off Tuesday rally that saw all the major indexes and the battered Russell 2000 trade higher. One of the few casualties on the day was oil, with both West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude closing lower. Treasury yields increased across the board, as sellers weighed reports that Russian President Putin made comments that there could indeed be diplomatic solutions to the situation in Ukraine. That in turn knocked the flight-to-safety bid out from under the Treasury complex, and once again both the five-year and 10-year notes closed with yields hitting highs not seen since 2019.

Wall Street strategists remain focused on the Thursday release of the January consumer price index report, where expectations are focused on an increase of 7.3%, versus the 7.0% rise in December. Some in the major firms feel that inflation could be approaching its peak and could begin to trend lower in the second quarter.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding fresh 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, February 9, 2022.

ACM Research Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR): The Zacks Bull of the Day is a niche, under-the-radar small-cap semiconductor player with an ideal concentrated exposure to Asia. Shares last closed at $81.72 and have a consensus price target all the way up at $132.07.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Daiwa Securities raised shares of the semiconductor giant to Buy from Outperform and lifted the price target to $150 from $140. The analysts’ consensus price target is $152.81. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $128.23, up close to 4% for the day.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY): JMP Securities cut the stock to Market Perform from Market Outperform. It has traded in a 52-week range of $7.29 to $9.64 and has an $8.66 consensus target. The last trade for Tuesday was posted at $7.58.

AppFolio Inc. (NASDAQ: APPF): Stephens upgraded the stock from Underweight to Equal Weight and changed the $105 price target to $107. The last trade to hit the tape Tuesday came in at $120.78, which was a gain of close to 4% for the day.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG): JPMorgan lowered its Neutral rating to Underweight and slashed the target price to $31 from $54. The consensus target is $47, and Tuesday’s final print of $39.45. The shares were down close to 5% in premarket action.

Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI): The Jefferies downgrade to Hold from Buy included a price target cut to $71 from $100. The posted consensus target is $92.50. The last trade on Tuesday at $68.85, down almost 4% on the day.