The futures were trading higher, as we get set to finish a wild trading week across Wall Street. The major indexes finished Thursday positive, after a big afternoon reversal. The Dow Jones industrials led the way, after the venerable index got a massive boost from Salesforce, which posted huge, unexpected results and revenue guidance that was above expectations. The company also announced a new $20 billion stock buyback, and it said it would disband its mergers and acquisitions force, indicating no new acquisitions, after activist investor pressure.

Treasury yields were higher again for the second day, as the 10-year note moved firmly across the 4% threshold to close at 4.07%, while the two-year paper closed at 4.89%, the highest since 2006. Many across Wall Street feel that if the short note hits 5% and higher, there could be a big move by retail investors into the debt for safety in what is increasingly a nervous market.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed modestly higher on Thursday, as market participants began to factor in the Russians cutting oil production by 500,000 barrels in March, which is about 5% of total production, a move that was announced back in February. Natural gas finished lower at $2.73, down almost 3% after a solid move higher this week. Gold and Bitcoin closed slightly lower 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, March 3, 2023.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Raymond James resumed coverage with a Strong Buy rating and a $100 target price. The consensus target is $93.60. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Thursday at $80.44.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on the technology behemoth and has a $195 target price. That compares with a consensus target of $168.21 and Thursday’s closing print of $145.91.

Array Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY): Scotiabank initiated coverage with a Sector Outperform rating, but its $26 target price is less than the $27.81 consensus target. Thursday’s $18.86 close was up over 3% on the day after preliminary results were posted.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX): Zacks pointed to falling estimates as it selected this auto retailer as the Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $106.24 in the past year but closed most recently at $67.86, after retreating more than 14% in the past month.

Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE): BofA Securities upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy and nudged its target price to $140 from $135. The consensus target is $127.79. Thursday’s close at $123.56 was a one-day gain of over 3% on the upgrade.
Coupang Inc. (NYSE: CPNG): The BofA Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy included a price target cut to $18 from $27. The consensus target is $23.06. Thursday’s close at $14.00 was down over 4% on the day. The company posted disappointing earnings earlier this week.

Crestwood Equity Partners L.P. (NYSE: CEQP): Scotiabank initiated coverage with a Sector Outperform rating and a $31 target price. The consensus target is $31.63. Thursday’s close was at $25.15.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS): Goldman Sachs raised its $120 price target to $132 while reiterating a Buy rating. The consensus target is $116.44. The final Thursday trade was reported at $112.37.

Double Verify Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DV): Goldman Sachs raised its $29 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $33. The consensus target is $32.10. The stock closed almost 5% higher on Thursday at $27.07 in the wake of solid results.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC): Raymond James resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $30 target price. The consensus target is $27.46. The stock closed over 3% higher on Thursday at $26.20.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK): Oppenheimer raised its $85 price target on the Outperform-rated fast-food favorite to $95. That compares with an $84.65 consensus target and Thursday’s $87.85 closing price, which was up over 3% on the day after posting solid earnings.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS): Goldman Sachs lowered its target price on the Sell-rated retailer to $24 from $27. The $28.50 consensus target is higher than Thursday’s close at $27.85.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX): When Atlantic Equities upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral, it boosted its $321 target price to $403. The consensus target is $339.40. The shares ended trading on Thursday at $354.78.

Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL): Raymond James resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $54 target price. The consensus target is $61.83. The shares closed on Thursday at $46.23.

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI): Tech stocks have retreated from their highs but estimates are storming back, says Zacks, which named this e-commerce stock its Bull of the Day. Shares last closed at $1,218.52, and the $1,378.42 consensus target would be a 52-week high.

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA): RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $200 target price. The consensus target is up at $226.38, but the stock closed on Thursday at $137.86.

Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO): J.P. Morgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight, and it lowered the $14 target price to $10. Shares have traded as high as $24.43 in the past year but closed most recently at $9.09.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA): Raymond James resumed coverage with a Strong Buy rating. Its $290 target price is well above the $247.35 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $233.14.
Okta Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA): Stifel raised its $90 target price on the Buy-rated stock to $100. The consensus target is $81.23 for now. The stock was last seen on Thursday trading at $80.91, and better-than-expected earnings get the credit for that 13% one-day gain.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating and has a $31 target price. The consensus target is $27.26. The stock closed over 6% lower on Thursday at $13.33 after a fourth-quarter loss was posted.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM): Needham raised its Hold rating to Buy with a $230 target price. The consensus target is $190.52. The stock closed Thursday at $186.59, which was up close to 12% for the day after huge numbers were posted.

Sandstorm Gold Inc. (NYSE: SAND): The RBC Capital Markets upgrade was from Sector Perform to Outperform with a $6.50 target price. The consensus target is higher at $8.57. Thursday’s $5.20 close was up almost 4% for the day on the upgrade.

Silvergate Capital Inc. (NYSE: SI): Compass Point downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. It also lowered its $16 target price to $10. The consensus target is $14.67 for now. The shares were crushed Thursday, closing down 58% at $5.72, after posting a huge loss and warning it may go out of business.

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $47 target price. The consensus target is $47.48. Thursday’s close was at $33.69.

Veeva Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VEEV): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $204 target price to $226. The consensus target is $207.75. The stock closed over 4% higher on Thursday at $173.56 after better-than-expected earnings.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC): Raymond James resumed coverage with an Outperform rating and a $46 target price. The consensus target is $46.92. The last trade on Thursday was reported at $38.38.

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With the market still positive for the year after a bear market rally, it makes sense now to move to conservative, large-cap dividend stocks. Five high-yielding Dow stocks are offering good entry points and have lofty and dependable payouts.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AbbVie, AutoZone, Boeing, Coupang, First Solar, Fortinet, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Marqeta, Monster Beverage, Rivian Automotive, Spirit AeroSystems, Workday and XP.

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