The futures traded lower Wednesday after another rally attempt was initially thwarted on Tuesday, as the risk-on crowd came to the party. While the beleaguered Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed up, the Dow Jones industrials, in a late bout of selling, closed lower.
The big surprise on Tuesday was the strength in the Treasury market, where yields across the curve dropped and the yield on the 10-year note dropped back below the 3% mark. What that may signify may not be welcome news for investors, as a flight to Treasury securities usually signals inventors are running for cover in a market that could have more downside, especially as we are in the “sell in May and go away” time of the year.
One promising trend that did follow through Tuesday was that both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower, with Brent down over 4% and WTI closing below the $100 mark. Natural gas rallied back with a vengeance, closing up over 5% at $7.38, while gold ended the day up almost 1%.
All eyes were focused on the consumer price index reading, which did not decelerate on either a month-over-month and year-over-year basis as expected on Wall Street. The April reading came in at 0.3%, versus 0.2% in the prior month, while the April core reading (sans food and energy) was 0.6%, up from 0.4% in March. Not the overall improvement many in the financial community was looking for. The rate of inflation over the past year slowed to 8.3% from 8.5% though. So tacit improvement there.
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, May 11, 2022.
Affirm Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM): J.P. Morgan began coverage with a Neutral rating and a $30 target price. The consensus target is up at $69.94. The stock closed over 11% lower on Tuesday at $18.19.
Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN): This medical device maker was selected as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The analyst points out that a global growth slowdown has slashed its earnings this year. Shares hit a 52-week low of $254.48 on Tuesday and are down more than 60% year to date.
AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP): BofA Securities reiterated a Neutral rating and cut the $70 price target to $43. The target is $88. The stock closed 4% lower on Tuesday at $28.99.
Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE: BLCO): Cowen started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $35 target price. Due to its recent initial public offering, a consensus target has not been posted yet. Tuesday’s close was at $17.55.
Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and has a $23 target price objective. That compares with a $28.25 consensus target and Tuesday’s close at $14.39.
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): Benchmark downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $46.51 and $85.17, and it has an $85 consensus price objective. The closed over 4% lower on Tuesday at $78.36.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): This key software player in semiconductors has seen price targets move above $200, says Zacks, which named it the Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $141.17, and the consensus price target is $192.14.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): BofA Securities resumed coverage of the popular Mexican food restaurant chain with a Buy rating and a $1,590 price objective. The consensus target is up at $1,900.07. The stock closed on Tuesday at $1321.08.
Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $83 target price. The consensus target is up at $106.17. The $67.91 close on Tuesday was up over 4% on the day.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): MoffettNathanson upgraded the legacy video game giant to Buy from Neutral but sliced the $151 target price to $141. The consensus target is $161.23. The stock closed on Tuesday at $111.60.
EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): Raymond James raised its Outperform rating on the energy giant to Strong Buy with a $170 target price. The consensus target is $148.93. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $119.56.
Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): Barclays cut its Equal Weight rating to Underweight and dropped the $367 price target to $310. The consensus target is $366.27, and the closing share price was $286.48 on Tuesday.
Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL): Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the popular athletic shoe retailer to $31 from $35 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $32.45. The shares closed on Tuesday at $27.63.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F): Berenberg started coverage of the legacy automaker with a Neutral rating and a $17 price target. The consensus target is $19.04. Tuesday’s close was at $13.35.
GoodRx Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: GDRX): Goldman Sachs slashed its $30 price objective to $12 but stuck with a Buy rating. The consensus target is $24.80, for now. The shares were hammered Tuesday, closing down 25% at $7.97. The company posted solid results but said that it had lost a major grocer.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT): Nomura upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and nudged the $15 price target up to $15.50. The consensus target is higher at $18.75. The shares closed over 3% higher on Tuesday at $11.74.
Healthcare Trust of America Inc. (NYSE: HTA): Though Berenberg upgraded it to Buy from Hold, the firm sliced the $37 target price to $34. The consensus target is $34.56. The stock closed on Tuesday at $28.26.
Krystal Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: KRYS): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed the $91 price target to $90. The consensus target is higher at $110.50. The shares closed up 8.6% on Tuesday at $53.52.
Maxar Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MAXR): Canaccord Genuity raised its Neutral rating to Buy but cut the price objective to $38 from $42. The consensus target is $44.71. The last trade on Tuesday was reported at $28.92.
Rackspace Technology Inc. (NYSE: RXT): The Raymond James upgrade was from Market Perform to Outperform with a $12 target. The consensus target is $15.28. The stock closed almost 6% lower on Tuesday at $8.63. The shares rallied in the premarket, up over 3%.
Ring Central Inc. (NYSE: RNG): Oppenheimer upgraded the shares to Outperform from Perform and has a $100 price target, while Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with a much higher $175 target. The consensus target is higher still at $201.88. The close on Tuesday was at $68.49.
Shake Shack Inc. (NASDAQ: SHAK): Stifel kept a Hold rating on the popular restaurant chain but cut the $65 price objective to $45. The consensus target is $68.18. The last trade for Tuesday was at $47.99.
Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating after solid earnings results. Its $177 price target is higher than the $162.94 consensus figure. The stock closed on Tuesday at $119.07.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA): Berenberg started coverage with a Hold rating and a $900 target. That compares with a higher $993.82 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing price of $800.04.
Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL): Credit Suisse began coverage with a Neutral rating and a $408 price target. The consensus target is up at $516.22. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $354.66.
Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: U): Daiwa Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and slashed the $110 price target to $34. The consensus target (for now) is $135.63. The shares closed down over 4% on Tuesday at $48.13. The stock was eviscerated in the premarket, down an additional 23%, after posting weak revenue guidance to go with mostly inline earnings.
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating with a $38 target after the company posted results above Wall Street expectations. The consensus target is $35.67. Tuesday’s final trade was at $19.75, which was down over 13% for the day despite those solid numbers.
W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC): JMP Securities started coverage with a Market Outperform rating and an $87 target price. The consensus target is $88.11. The shares were last seen Tuesday at $76.00.
XPO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: XPO): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating with a $105 target price after the company posted very solid numbers. The consensus target is $95.77. The stock closed over 4% higher on Tuesday at $52.95.
With the market seemingly poised to head much lower, it may be time for investors to move any capital invested in momentum or high beta stocks to one or more of the safest Dividend Kings.
Five high-paying utilities stocks could help keep a sinking portfolio afloat, and see the five consumer defensive plays that may help investors help to ride out the market downturn. Plus, five top tech stocks offer solid dividends that pay investors to wait for better days. And are these four major carmakers poised for a turnaround?
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Altria, American International Group, Datadog, DraftKings, Emerson Electric, Marriott International, NortonLifeLock, Opendoor Technologies, Realty Income, Roblox and Under Armour. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Affirm, Edison International, GoodRx, LivePerson, Palantir Technologies, Progressive, Upstart and more.
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