The futures were trading higher after yet another strong nonfarm payrolls report that steamrolled Wall Street’s 200,000 estimate for October. That will help fuel the “higher for longer” fire that is now the Federal Reserve mantra going forward. While the string of 75-basis-point hikes may be over, the terminal rate for where the increases end may be going above 5% now. As a result of the hawkish Fed tone on Wednesday, all the major indexes closed lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq down over 1.7%, after a very ugly close Wednesday as well.
Not surprisingly, yields across the Treasury market closed higher Thursday after the Fed’s meeting, with the short end jumping the most. The two-year note yield closed at 4.71%, a large 14-basis-point increase, while the five-year debt yield jumped 10 basis points. The inversion of the two-year and 10-year paper remained in place as the latter note closed at 4.12%.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both ended lower on Thursday, after a solid move higher earlier in the week. Natural gas also finished the day lower, down over 5% despite concerns expressed by the International Energy Agency over the gas supplies for Europe this winter and in 2023. Gold closed lower, while Bitcoin ended modestly higher.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new 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, November 4, 2022.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating on the chip giant while lowering its $84 target price to $74. The consensus target is higher at $94.29. Thursday’s $60.11 close was up almost 3% for the day.
Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT): Citigroup raised its Neutral rating to Buy and increased its $22 target price to $35. The consensus target is up at $43.44. The stock closed on Thursday at $22.01.
Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC): Goldman Sachs raised its $67 target price to $76 but stayed with a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $79. The stock closed on Thursday at $72.83.
Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI): The BofA Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a target price chop to $11.50 from $42. The consensus target is $26.15. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Thursday at $9.53.
Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH): UBS’s downgrade was from Buy to Neutral with a $135 target price. The consensus target is $141.70. Thursday’s close at $111.53 was down over 6% on the day, despite it beating third-quarter estimates.
Cognizant Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH): The Outperform rating at BMO Capital Markets is now Market Perform, and the firm lowered its $73 target price to $65. The consensus target is $71.60. The shares ended Thursday at $51.96, which was down almost 14% on the day despite matching earnings estimates.
Covenant Logistics Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLG): Citing rising estimates and a low valuation, Zacks has selected this trucking stock as its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $36.32, which is up almost 67% from six months ago.
Dynatrace Inc. (NYSE: DT): Goldman Sachs lowered its $61 price target to $54 while reiterating a Buy rating. That is still above the $44.92 consensus target. The stock close almost 4% higher on Thursday at $33.23.
Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $750 target price. The consensus target is $731.14. Thursday’s $585.35 close was up almost 7% on the day after solid earnings for the quarter.
Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating but trimmed its $127 target price to $125. The consensus target is $117.61. The stock closed on Thursday at $100.03, which was up almost 15% after posting very solid results for the quarter.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (NYSE: HLF): This was named the Bear of the Day at Zacks, which pondered whether Bill Ackman had the last laugh on this infamous battleground stock. Shares have traded as high as $45.80 in the past year but hit a multiyear low of $15.79 on Thursday.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM): Goldman Sachs raised its $522 target price to $575 and kept a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $567.86. The stock ended trading on Thursday at $563.26.
Identiv Inc. (NASDAQ: INVE): The B. Riley Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy came with a target price cut to $12 from $19. The shares closed on Thursday at $8.83, down a stunning 25% after disappointing earnings.
Littlefuse Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS): Cowen’s downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform included a target price cut to $225 from $295. The consensus target is $261.20. The stock closed on Thursday at $203.84.
24/7 Wall St.Match Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MTCH): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $65 target price. The consensus target is $71.61. Thursday’s close at $42.79 was down almost 7% for the day, despite very solid earnings for the quarter.
Moelis & Co. (NYSE: MC): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the shares to Underperform from Market Perform. It also trimmed its target price from $40 (close to the consensus target of $40.14) to $37. The stock closed 7% lower on Thursday at $39.99 despite good earnings for the quarter.
Nutrien Ltd. (NYSE: NTR): Scotiabank’s downgrade was from Sector Outperform to Sector Perform with a $110 target price. The consensus target is $110.47. The stock closed on Thursday at $71.25, down over 14% for the day after posting lousy third-quarter results.
Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO): The Overweight rating at J.P. Morgan is now Underweight, and the firm lowered its $125 target price to $90. The consensus target is $109. The shares closed on Thursday at $82.67.
Rapid7 Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD): Truist Financial downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and halved its target price to $40 from $80. Mizuho cut its Buy rating to Neutral and lowered its $70 target price to $45. The consensus target is $71.13 for now. Thursday’s close at $30.19 was down 23% for the day. While it post solid results, the planned sales reorganization is taking longer than expected.
Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD): Goldman Sachs raised its $11.50 price target on the Neutral-rated shares to $13. The consensus target is $11.65. Thursday’s $12.33 closed up over 8% on the day after it beat earnings estimates.
Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): As Rosenblatt downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy, it also slashed its $100 price objective to $51. The consensus target is $79.63. The stock closed on Thursday at $51.84, down almost 5% on the day due to mixed earnings results.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SBGI): Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to Underweight from Overweight. It also slashed its $30 target price to $16, well below the $28.63 consensus target. Thursday’s closing print was $17.46.
Trimble Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMB): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and has a $72 target price. The consensus target is $73.11. The shares ended Thursday trading at $52.06.
Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: XHR): The Jefferies downgrade was from Buy to Hold with a $17 target price. The consensus target is $19.50. Thursday’s last trade at $14.09 a share was down close to 5% on the day after disappointing results.
Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and cut its $48 target price to $34. The consensus target is $39.47. The stock closed on Thursday at $32.42, more than a 10% gain for the day. Zillow posted solid results this week.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and has a $120 target price. The consensus target is $124.55, and the stock closed on Thursday at $105.40.
Energy demand looks to stay strong, and analysts remain positive on the large-cap domestic leaders. Five top energy stocks come with dependable dividends and make sense now for growth and income investors.
Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included BioCryst Pharmaceutical, Canopy Growth, Cleveland-Cliffs, Datadog, Electronic Arts, Palo Alto Networks, Peloton Interactive, Snowflake, SoFi Technologies, XPO Logistics and Zoominfo Technologies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Alkermes, Altice USA, Fisker, Freshpet, Lincoln National, Maravai LifeSciences and more.
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