Friday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Amazon, APA, Costco, eBay, Etsy, Match, MetLife, Twilio, Uber, Virgin Galactic, Wayfair and More

Investing

Published: May 6, 2022 9:01 am

Last Updated: July 5, 2022 12:51 pm

The futures were lower on Friday, after all the gains from Thursday, the best day for stocks since 2020, evaporated in a massive across the board risk-off trading session. One big reason was Treasury yields spiking higher in a big way, with the five-year and 10-year notes and the 30-year long bond all up 13 basis point and higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was absolutely demolished, closing down a stunning 5%, while the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 both closed down well over 3%.

Friday’s nonfarm payroll numbers came in well above expectations, with the economy adding 428,000 jobs rather than the expected 395,000. That was a pleasant surprise after Wednesday’s private payroll numbers clocked in well below expectations. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed slightly higher, after OPEC agreed to another modest increase in production, raising output 432,000 barrels per day in June. Natural gas continued its huge move higher, up another 4% on the day, while gold was another casualty of the Thursday rout, closing down 5%.

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 Friday, May 6, 2022.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV): Daiwa Securities downgraded the shares to Neutral from Outperform. The consensus target for the pharmaceutical heavyweight is $164.86. The stock closed on Thursday at $152.18.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): This is the latest Bear of the Day stock at Zacks. The analyst suggests that recent earnings misses and an unpredictable equity market do not favor bullish Amazon investors. Shares have traded as high as $3,773.08 in the past year but hit a 52-week low of $2,301.45 on Thursday. The stock is down more than 30% year to date.

APA Corp. (NASDAQ: APA): Stifel raised its $51 price target on the Buy-rated energy giant to $59. The consensus target is $52.54. The stock closed almost 9% lower on Thursday at $41.30.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): Goldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating with a $2,460 price target. The consensus target is $2,651.28. The stock ended Thursday at $2171.91, up over 3% on a dreadful day.