The futures were trading higher across the board Wednesday, after a massive risk-on rally for all the major indexes, which many felt was a result of an extremely oversold market and some buy-the-huge-dip mentality, reversed in the afternoon as huge gains were wiped out and the major indexes closed down again. The Nasdaq slipped into bear market status with the latest closing print.
President Biden announced a ban on the importing of Russian oil, though the United States only imports a little over 400,000 barrels per day from Russia, a pittance compared to the massive 20.54 million barrels used per day.
Reports from Reuters indicated that Russian forces have slowed their advance in front of a key meeting tomorrow in Turkey between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats. That may have spurred additional selling in the Treasury bond markets, as yields once again were up across the curve. Both gold and oil surged higher again, with Brent crude closing at $129 a barrel, up 5%, and West Texas Intermediate at $123, up close to 4%. Those gains were being cut into big-time Wednesday morning, as both were down close to 3%. Gold ended the day at $2,052 an ounce, a massive 2.8% gain.
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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD | AMD Price Prediction): Zacks as selected this as the Bull of the Day stock, and the analyst makes a case for buying its shares rather than rival Nvidia. The stock last closed at $105.53 a share, and the consensus price target is $151.54.
AvidXChange Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AVDX): Goldman Sachs cut the price target to $13 from $24 while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $22.90 for now. The stock closed Tuesday at $8.26, down over 5%, and the selling continued in the aftermarket with the stock down another 4%. Despite posting seemingly solid results, the stock was mauled.
Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE): Goldman Sachs maintained a Sell rating while cutting the target price to $3 from $9. The consensus target is $10.45. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $4.62, up almost 4% for the day. Note that the shares traded at $150 four short years ago.
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): Oppenheimer upgraded the shares to Outperform from Perform and has a $2,560 target price. The consensus target is $2686.67. The shares closed Tuesday at $1899.53, up almost 5% on the day.
Callon Petroleum Co. (NYSE: CPE): Truist Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold, and the $64 price target jumped to $100. The consensus target is lower at $69.20. The last trade Tuesday came in at $60.98.
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Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR): Piper Sandler upgraded the popular discount retailer to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price objective to $181 from $157. Loop Capital also upgraded the shares, to Buy from Hold, and lifted its $140 target price to $200. The consensus target is $158.17. The shares closed Tuesday at $146.80, up over 4%, and tacked on an additional 3% in premarket action. Some positive changes in the board of directors have investors buying the shares, according to reports.
Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): Loop Capital downgraded the shares from Buy to Hold with a $413 target price. The consensus target is $479.85. The last trade Tuesday was reported at $393.15.
Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG): Scotiabank raised its Sector Perform rating to Sector Outperform. BofA Securities cut the shares to Neutral from Buy but lifted the target price to $170 from $165. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $65.93 to $142.09. The consensus target is $150.82, and the last trade for Tuesday was for $134.44 a share.
Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST): Wells Fargo upgraded it to Equal Weight from Underweight and moved the $50 target price to $58. The consensus target is in line at $58.53, and the last trade Tuesday was reported at $54.16.
Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS): BofA Securities resumed coverage of the popular retailer with a Neutral rating and a $60 target price. The consensus target is $64.75. The final trade on Tuesday was reported at $53.25, up over 4% for the day.
Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $40 price target. The consensus target is higher at $51.63. The stock ended Tuesday at $32,17.
Limelight Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: LLNW): Northland Capital upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and raised the $5 price target to $6.50. The consensus target is $5.50. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $4.467, which was close to 5% higher for the day.
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Magenta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGTA): Goldman Sachs kept a Buy rating on the shares and adjusted the target price to $7 from $8. The consensus target is $11.83. The last trade Tuesday was at $2.73 a share.
Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the shares to Market Perform from Outperform and slashed the $89 target price to $63. That compares with a much higher consensus target of $107.20 and Tuesday’s closing print of $56.88.
Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO): Baird started coverage of the rating agency at Outperform with a $363 target price. The consensus target is higher at $403.46. The last trade to hit the tape Tuesday was at $314.00.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Wedbush raised the popular entertainment stock from Underperform to Neutral with a $342 target. The consensus target is $510.19. The stock closed on Tuesday at $341.76.
Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE: NOG): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy but lifted the target price to $38 from $33. The consensus target is $35.92. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $26.36. down close to 3% for the day.
Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS): MKM Partners reiterated its Buy rating on the stock and boosted the target price to $178 from $170. The consensus target is in line at $178.57. The shares were last seen Tuesday at $147.38, down over 3% on the day.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $15 target price. The consensus target is $15.06. The closing share price on Tuesday was $11.04. The shares traded almost 5% higher in premarket action.
PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL): BofA Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the target price to $107 from $175. The consensus target is $182.39. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $94.90.
Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA): Truist Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $110 price target. The consensus target is up at $131. The closing trade for Tuesday came in at $77.20.
Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): Stifel initiated coverage on the shares with a Buy rating and a $51 target price. The consensus target is much higher at $70.88. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $41.68, which was up almost 5%.
Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and boosted the target price to $9 from $5. The consensus target is $7.09. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $5.60
S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $485 target price. Barclays initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $500 price objective. The consensus target is $488.15. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $388.13.
Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Jefferies started coverage with a Hold rating and a $100 target price. That compares with a much higher consensus target of $157.98 and Tuesday’s closing price of $81.08 per share.
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Given recent geopolitical events, Goldman Sachs notes that vigilance at every level is now a huge priority to ensure cybersecurity and that six top companies will benefit from the increased spending across the industry.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AngloGold Ashanti, Ares Capital, Bank of America, Beyond Meat, Bluebird Bio, Coinbase Global, ConocoPhillips, Dell Technologies, Empire State Realty Trust, HollyFrontier, MicroVision, Next Era Energy, Okta and TAL Education. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on BP, Caterpillar, Riot Blockchain and more.
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