The futures traded higher on Thursday, after another back-and-forth day on Wall Street in which all the major indexes eventually closed higher, except the Russell 2000. The song remains the same, as recession concerns continue to dominate the dialogue across Wall Street. Inflation worries may get another boost next week when the June consumer price index report is released.

The Federal Reserve will meet again this month, and unless the inflation numbers are drastically lower, investors likely will see another 75-basis-point increase in the federal funds rate. The big data point they will review this week will be Friday’s nonfarm payroll report for June, for which the consensus forecast is that the economy added 270,000 jobs last month.

The sellers also returned to the Treasury market. Yields were up across the curve, with the five-year and 10-year notes, and the 30-year bond yield, all about 10 basis points higher. The good news once again was both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude traded lower, falling below the $100 level for the first time since May. Gold and Bitcoin both closed lower.

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 Thursday, July 7, 2022.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT): Wolfe Research started coverage with an Underperform rating and a $95 target price. The consensus target is higher at $138.24. The stock closed on Wednesday at $108.69.

Azul S.A. (NYSE: AZUL): Barclays downgraded the South American airline to Underweight from Equal Weight and cut the $17 target price to $7. The consensus target is $19.09 for now. Shares were last seen Wednesday at $6.38, which was down almost 7% for the day.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the defense and aerospace giant and has a $245 price objective, after deliveries for the second quarter came in above expectations. The consensus target is near $212, and the stock closed on Wednesday at $136.31.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $43 target price. The consensus target is $49.28. Wednesday’s close was at $37.66.

Callon Petroleum Co. (NYSE: CPE): RBC Capital Markets raised its Sector Perform rating to Outperform with a $75 target price. The consensus target is $82.13. The stock closed on Wednesday at $36.46.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): Though Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the fiber optical leader, it also lowered its $51 target price to $43. The consensus target is $43.18. The last trade on Wednesday was recorded at $31.91.
Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG): Canaccord Genuity started coverage with a Hold rating and a $120 price target. The consensus target is higher at $155.47. The stock closed on Wednesday at $108.03.

Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DNB): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and raised the target price by a dollar to $17. The consensus target is $20.18. The shares closed almost 3% higher on Wednesday at $14.69.

Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): This e-commerce firm is the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The analyst points out that it has tumbled alongside many other pandemic winners as growth normalizes. Shares have traded as high as $307.75 in the past year but closed most recently at $85.94. That is down more than 60% year to date.

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB): Needham started coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 price target. That compares with the $68.89 consensus target and Wednesday’s close at $56.01, which was down over 5% on the day. The shares bounced back over 2% in Thursday’s premarket.

HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA): BMO Capital Markets downgraded the shares to Underperform from Market Perform and slashed the $233 price target to $160. The consensus target is up at $249.65. The stock closed just shy of 4% lower on Wednesday at $165.99.

Health Catalyst Inc. (NASDAQ: HCAT): Goldman Sachs lowered its $37 price target to $29 but maintained a Buy rating. The consensus target is $26.23. The final trade from Wednesday was for $16.16 a share.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral. It also cut the price target almost in half, from $50 to $26, below the consensus target of $37. The stock closed Wednesday at $27.37, down almost 7% on the day.

Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT): Craig Hallum downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and slashed the $54 price target to $26. The consensus target is $81.50 for now. The shares closed down a stunning 26% on Wednesday at $23.46, after the company slashed its forecasts for the second and third quarters.

Medtronic PLC (NYSE: MDT): Wolfe Research started coverage of the medical devices heavyweight with an Underperform rating and an $85 target price. The consensus target is higher at $116.59. Wednesday’s close was at $89.62.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI): New Street resumed coverage with a Buy rating but cut the price target to $1,100 from $1,700. The consensus target is $1,405.22. The stock closed on Wednesday at $704.55.

Mercer International Inc. (NASDAQ: MERC): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a price target bump to $19 from $18.50. The consensus target is $15.80. The stock closed almost 12% higher on Wednesday at $13.86.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK): Daiwa Securities raised its Neutral rating on the pharmaceutical giant to Buy and lifted the $89 price target to $102. The consensus target is $98.17. The shares closed on Wednesday at $93.13.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX): Barclays reiterated an Equal Weight rating but lowered the price objective on the entertainment streaming giant in a big way, to $170 from $275. The consensus target is $297.18. The stock closed at $184.06 on Wednesday.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD): RBC Capital Markets downgraded the energy giant from Outperform to Sector Perform with a $290. The consensus target is $302.16. The stock closed on Wednesday at $210.93.

Pure Storage Inc. (NYSE: PSTG): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target on the Buy-rated shares to $40 from $50. The consensus is $36.76. The stock closed on Wednesday at $25.48.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM): Goldman Sachs cut its $220 price objective to $183 but kept a Buy rating on the shares. The consensus target is $199.95. The stock closed on Wednesday at $127.06.

Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ: SABR): The BofA Securities upgrade was from Underperform to Buy with a $10 target price. The consensus target is higher at $12.50. The stock closed almost 4% higher on Wednesday at $6.60.

Sempra (NYSE: SRE): The Goldman Sachs upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a price target bump to $167 from $164. The consensus target is higher at $172.81. The closing share price on Wednesday was $147.46.

Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY): The Zacks Bull of the Day bucked the trend with raised its guidance in the face of inflation and recession worries, says the analyst. Plus, it is a Dividend Aristocrat. Shares last closed at $84.82, and the $95.27 consensus price target would be a 52-week high.

Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX): Baird reiterated a Neutral rating with a $250 target price. The consensus target is $293.51. The last trade on Wednesday was reported at $291.16.

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Wednesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, American Express, Antero Resources, APA, Chewy, Emerson Electric, eBay, Kohl’s, Kroger, Live Nation Entertainment, Monster Beverage, NetEase, Occidental Petroleum, Tesla and Shopify. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Apple, Coinbase Global, EOG Resources, Rocket Companies, Sabre, Teladoc Health and more.

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