The futures traded higher as investors prepared to end the holiday-shortened and very volatile trading week. All the major indexes closed higher on Thursday, and one big reason for the initial weakness before the market reversal was another hawkish speech from Fed Chair Powell. Both Jefferies and Goldman Sachs raised their September rate hike estimates to 75 basis points from 50. Jefferies sees the terminal rate of 4.00% to 4.25% for federal funds to be reached in January of 2023, and many across Wall Street feel that rate could be held all next year, unless the inflation rate fell back close to the 2% target level.

Yields were up across the Treasury curve as the bond market is also starting to price in a 75-basis-point hike later this month. Thursday was a reversal of the prior day for the safe haven government securities, as investors rushed into purchased bonds on Wednesday after the two-year spiked to the highest level since 2007. The inversion with the 10-year stayed in place, with the two-year closing back at a 3.51% yield and the 10-year at 3.29%. Bond traders see the inversion as a harbinger of recession.

After being crushed in recent sessions, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed higher Thursday. Natural gas also rallied, closing up at $7.91, after being hammered earlier in the week after the commodity hit $10, the highest level since 2007. Both gold and Bitcoin closed flat 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 Friday, September 9, 2022.

Alignment Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: ALHC): Piper Sandler resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $19 target. The consensus target is $20.67. The stock closed over 3% higher on Thursday at $16.35, likely on the resumption of coverage.

Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT): Raymond James raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with a $150 target price. The consensus target is higher at $164. The stock closed on Thursday at $97.98.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Bernstein started covering shares of the popular restaurant chain with an Outperform rating and a $2,000 target price. That compares with the lower $1761.96 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $1707.01.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage of the cybersecurity giant with an Overweight rating and a $240 price target. The consensus target is $244.30. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Thursday at $179.88.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR): Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $180 target price. The consensus target is $178.95. The stock closed on Thursday at $145.36.Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): Bernstein started coverage of the popular pizza company at Underperform with a $334 target price. The consensus target is up at $430.79. The final trade was delivered at $362.00 on Thursday.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR): The Goldman Sachs upgrade to Buy from Sell a price target hike to $172 from $60. The consensus target is $120.57. Thursday’s last trade was reported at $137.53.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT): Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $70 price target. The consensus target is $71.40, much higher than the $51.71 close on Thursday.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN): BofA Securities downgraded shares of the mutual funds giant to Underperform from Neutral and sliced the $28 target to $25. The consensus target is $25.22. Thursday’s close was at $26.26.

GSK PLC (NYSE: GSK): Jefferies downgraded the pharmaceutical giant to Hold from Buy and lowered its $50.50 target price to $34. The consensus target is $54.29. The stock closed most recently at $31.51.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Stifel initiated coverage on the legacy semiconductor giant with a Hold rating and a $32 price target. The consensus target is higher at $40.26. Thursday’s close was at $30.75.

Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MAXN): Goldman Sachs raised its Sell rating to Buy. It also hiked the $9 price target to $27, above the $20.20 consensus target. Thursday’s $22.55 close was up over 6% on the day after some leadership changes at the top.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Stifel started coverage on the chip giant with a Hold rating and a $165 target. The consensus target is higher at $214.03. The stock closed on Thursday at $139.90.

Shoals Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS): Goldman Sachs’s downgrade to Sell from Neutral included a target price cut to $21 from $23. The consensus target is $30.23. The shares closed Thursday at $27.60.

SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG): Though BMO Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Outperform from Market Perform, it also dropped its target price to $56 from $60. The consensus target is $58.30. The stock closed Thursday’s session at $47.91, up close to 5% for the day.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock and slashed its target price to $35 from $51. The consensus target is $46.51. Thursday’s close was at $29.41.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX): Bernstein initiated coverage on the ubiquitous coffee retailer with a Market Perform rating and a $94 target price. The consensus target is $94.17. Thursday’s final trade was recorded at $89.46.
Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE: TALO): Zacks has named this its Bull of the Day stock, citing operating margins that have “gushed higher.” Shares last closed at $19.55, and the consensus price target of $26.33 would be a 52-week high.

Targa Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: TRGP): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $93 target price. The consensus target is $91.50. Thursday’s close was at $70.14.

Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI): When BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral, it also trimmed its $57 target price to $55. The consensus target is $62.54. Thursday’s final trade was reported at $60.15.

Trimble Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMB): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight, and its $82 target price dropped to $70. The $81.14 consensus also compares to Thursday’s closing print of $61.39.

Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN): Bernstein initiated coverage on the fast-food favorite with an Outperform rating and a $25 price target. The consensus target is $23.33. The last trade on Thursday was served at $19.73.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): Goldman Sachs downgraded the energy giant to Sell from Neutral and lowered its $35 target price to $30. The consensus target is $38.26. The stock closed on Thursday at $32.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE): Wolfe Research raised the stock to Outperform from Peer Perform and has a $98 target price. The consensus target is $75.27. The shares were last seen on Thursday trading at $68.10.

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24/7 Wall St. has screened the Goldman Sachs Conviction List looking for safe dividend stocks investors can rotate to now to get ahead of what could be a big move lower in the fall resulting from coming big Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

Goldman Sachs also has updated its outlook on solar stocks. See which ones the firm favors now.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Apple, ChargePoint, Chimerix, Cincinnati Financial, Coinbase Global, DocuSign, EQT, Fastenal, iQIYI, Petco Health & Wellness, Stem and United Parcel Service. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on AMD, Chipotle, Moderna, Roku and more.

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