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Will Markets Turn Even Lower? Analysts Upgrade or Downgrade American Airlines, Meta Platforms and More

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Markets turned lower to close out the week, marking the second straight week of losses and extending the slide lower. Normally, December is a historically strong month for the markets, but macroeconomic headwinds have been driving stocks lower, and the outlook going forward does not look good.

S&P Global suggested in its preliminary readings on economic activity that markets could further deteriorate into 2023. In fact, the agency is predicting that gross domestic product will contract at an annualized rate of roughly 1.5% at the same time job growth is slowing and might only get worse if inflation does not drop off.

Here, 24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Friday. 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 included AT&T, JetBlue, Marriott, Snap, Snowflake, Verizon and more.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $60 price target. The shares traded near $44 on Friday. The 52-week range is $38.19 to $61.55.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA): Needham reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $85 price target to $100. The shares traded near $82 on Friday. The 52-week range is $49.02 to $220.14.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $13 price target. The 52-week trading range is $21.42 to $11.65. Shares changed hands near $13 apiece on Friday.

DBV Technologies S.A. (NASDAQ: DBVT): Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral. Shares have traded as high as $3.43 in the past year but were changing hands near $1.30 on Friday.

DT Midstream Inc. (NYSE: DTM): Wells Fargo’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target cut to $62 from $68. The stock traded near $55 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $44.76 to $61.12.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS): J.P. Morgan downgraded shares to Neutral from Overweight and cut its $284 price target to $267. The stock was last seen trading near $211, in a 52-week range of $205.76 to $363.36.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): As J.P. Morgan raised its Neutral rating to Overweight, it also hiked the $115 price target to $150. The stock has traded as high as $352.71 in the past year but was last seen near $121. That is up 65% year to date.

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT): Morgan Stanley’s downgraded was from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $37 price target. The 52-week trading range is $27.59 to $48.61. Shares changed hands near $32 apiece on Friday.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT): The UBS upgrade was to Buy from Neutral, and the analyst raised the $100 price target to $158. The stock traded near $124 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $61.28 to $127.76.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Neutral rating and a $41 price target. The stock has traded as high as $50.10 a share in the past year but was last seen at around $37. That is down 13% year to date.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $51 price target. Shares traded near $38 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $30.54 to $53.12.

Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underperform and raised its $120 price target to $145. The stock traded near $135 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $82.50 to $158.28.


Eleven top Goldman Sachs tech stock picks match the firm’s 10 trends for 2023. Growth investors with a long-term time horizon could be poised to make some huge profits from these sector giants over the next few years.

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