Thursday's Top Analysts Upgrades and Downgrades: Caesars, Chevron, Exxon, Gap, Ginkgo Bioworks, Home Depot, New York Mortgage Trust, Novavax, NOV, SoFi and More

Investing

Published: February 24, 2022 8:53 am

Last Updated: February 24, 2022 9:04 am

The futures were crushed on Thursday after a brutal risk-off day on Wall Street Wednesday. The Russians finally played the invasion card and moved into Ukraine as many had anticipated. Stocks fell to eight-month lows Wednesday and likely will be headed to lows last printed in 2020 in the not too distant future. While it is highly unlikely there will be any response from the United States military, it is a very strong bet that each and every sanction that the U.S. president can use against Russia is being discussed and deployed.

Oil and gold stocks surged, as did the U.S. Treasury bonds, as investors here and abroad seek safe havens. It is important to remember that selling into this kind of headline event is probably not the best idea, as the chance that this event spreads further into Europe is highly unlikely.

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 Thursday, February 24, 2022.

ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $21 price target. The consensus target is higher at $28.50. The final trade on Wednesday was at $20.09 a share.

Affirmed N.V. (NASDAQ: AFMD): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $12 target price. The consensus target is $13.29. The close on Wednesday was at $4.22 a share.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Berenberg upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and has a $180 price objective. The consensus target is $182.18. The last trade on Wednesday came in at $140.88, up over 4% after the company posted stellar results.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR): Deutsche Bank reiterated a Buy rating on the casino and gambling giant but sliced the $110 target price to $105. Stifel kept a Buy rating and cut its target to $120 from $138, while Cowen maintained an Outperform rating but dropped the price objective to $110 from $125. The consensus target is $129.21. Wednesday’s last trade was reported at $78.68, which was up close to 3% for the day.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX): Loop Capital started coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 price objective. The consensus target is just $56.43. The stock closed on Wednesday at $51.66.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): Cowen maintained an Outperform rating on shares of the mega-cap energy giant and increased the price target to $140 from $133. The consensus target is $141.26. The last trade on Wednesday was over 2% higher to $135.55.