The futures traded lower Wednesday, after another positive day on Wall Street that saw all the major indexes close higher. Some solid earnings results prior to disappointing tech results, the change in power and fiscal policy in the United Kingdom and a big drop in interest rates were the catalysts for the third straight day of big gains.

Tech giant Microsoft posted stellar results after the bell but was down over 7% in the aftermarket after reporting a slowdown in cloud growth. Alphabet also missed earnings expectations and was down almost 7%. With more big tech earnings headed our way, analysts and portfolio managers across Wall Street will be keying in on the outlook for the fourth quarter and 2023.

Interest rates plunged across the Treasury curve. Buyers returned in a big way, as government debt yields rose recently to the highest levels in almost 15 years. The five-, 10- and 30-year securities all closed higher, as yields fell over 10 basis points on each. Despite the move higher the two-year and 10-year inversion stayed in play, with the longer note closing at 4.11% and the shorter at 4.47%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed essentially flat, while natural gas closed up almost 2%. Some analysts cited Russia’s threat to Europe that a natural gas price cap would mean a full supply cut-off for the positive strength. Gold ended the day modestly lower, while Bitcoin traded higher, with the cryptocurrency giant up close to 4% and back over the $20,000 level.

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, October 26, 2022.

Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $440 target price. The consensus target is $306.17. The stock ended Tuesday trading at $281.43.

Altus Power Inc. (NYSE: AMPS): UBS started coverage with a Buy rating and a $14 price target. The consensus target is $13. The stock closed almost 6% higher on Tuesday at $9.70 due to the initiation.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR): While Jefferies resumed coverage with a Buy rating, it also slashed its $309 price target to $270. The consensus target is just $217.25. Tuesday’s close at $230.75 was up close to 5% for the day.

Brigham Minerals Inc. (NYSE: MNRL): Stifel lowered its Buy rating to Hold and dropped its $31 price target to $27. The consensus target is up at $37.43. The stock closed on Tuesday at $30.62.

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Stifel maintained a Hold rating with a $200 target price. The consensus target is $191.38. The stock closed on Tuesday at $151.32, down close to 6% on the day, despite posting results for the quarter that beat estimates.