The futures were higher Wednesday, after a strong rally to start Tuesday cascaded into the red late in the session. All the major indexes ended lower, except for the Russell 2000. The initial strength was propelled by the hope that the March consumer price index numbers, which came in at 8.5%, the highest since 1981, will mark the peak of the spiraling inflation. After the volatile food and energy component was removed, the overall inflation number was a very tolerable 0.3%. While a pleasant print at the margin with that component out of the equation, that is a very difficult pill to swallow for families struggling to buy gas and groceries.

Treasury yields finally backed up some, as the five-year and 10-year Treasury notes found some buyers, while the 30-year bond was flat on the day. Oil stormed higher as Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed up well over 6%, and both are over the $100 a barrel mark again. Energy traders cited a demand increase from China as the reason for the big move Tuesday. Gold also closed higher on the day.

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, April 7, 2022.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV): Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the Neutral-rated pharmaceutical giant to $140 from $122. The consensus target is $157.62, but the last trade Tuesday came in at $167.31.

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN): Rosenblatt began coverage with a Buy rating and a $25 target price. The consensus target is $27.25. The shares were last seen Tuesday trading at $17.70.

A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE: AOS): Baird maintained an Outperform rating and has a $79 target price. The consensus target is $79.44. Tuesday’s closing share price was $64.49.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX): Jefferies has the stock rated Buy with a $155 target price, and it is one of the firm’s top picks. The consensus target is $150.71, and the close on Tuesday was at $113.43.

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating and has a $36 target price. The consensus target is just $30.18. The final trade Tuesday was reported at $20.77.