Investing

A Historically Bullish Start to the Year: Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade Etsy, Oracle, Robinhood and More

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Markets were relatively flat on Monday, after last week’s impressive advance of more than 6%. That was one of the strongest gains seen so far this year, at least since the Ukraine conflict started markets on their downtrend in February.

Note that the S&P 500 is off to its worst six-month start since 1970. However, while this may be a daunting start, more often than not, years that see losses of at least 15% at the halfway mark generally end with a gain for the year as a whole. So while the current outlook might be bleak, historically this is bullish.

Looking ahead to the rest of this week, a flurry of upcoming economic numbers will offer a clearer picture of where this economy stands. Look out for the core PCE inflation report, Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey, as well as the manufacturing and housing reports.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on American Airlines, Carnival, Coinbase, FedEx, Tesla, Walmart and more.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO): Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $2,296 from $1,969. The 52-week trading range is $1,472.31 to $2,267.40, and shares traded above $2,184 apiece on Monday.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY): The B. Riley Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $7 from $17. The 52-week trading range is $5,95 to $39.30, and shares traded above $6 apiece on Monday.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY): Needham upgraded the shares from Hold to Buy with a $55 price target. The 52-week trading range is $22.22 to $97.74. The stock traded near $38 on Monday.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL): BofA Securities lowered its Neutral rating to Underperform and cut the $108 price target to $94. The stock traded near $88 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $82.29 to $151.19.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Needham’s downgrade was to Hold from Buy. The shares traded near $80 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $67.01 to $307.75.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Sell rating and a $75 price target. The stock traded near $70 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $63.76 to $106.34.

Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD): Goldman Sachs upgraded it to Neutral from Sell but cut the price target to $9.50 from $11.50. The 52-week trading range is $6.81 to $85.00, and shares were trading near $8 on Monday.

Simply Good Foods Co. (NASDAQ: SMPL): Stephens upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight, and the price target increased to $45 from $44. The 52-week range is $32.94 to $45.77. Shares traded near $40 apiece on Monday.


Six top Warren Buffett stock picks look like solid ideas for the second half of what has been a rough 2022. These blue-chip financial companies are poised to thrive as interest rates continue to rise.

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