The futures traded lower, after a big Thursday rally that saw all the major indexes finish the day sharply higher. Once again, big numbers from big technology stocks drove the impressive move higher, with Meta leading the way to a 15-month high with sales growing for the quarter after three straight quarterly declines. In addition, another positive for the day was President Biden finally agreeing to meet with Speaker McCarthy over the pending debt ceiling issue.
Goldman Sachs noted that with tax receipts down 29% year over year, the U.S. Treasury is expected to see its resources overwhelmed by the second week of June, but can still make scheduled payments until the end of July without a debt ceiling increase. Congress will be informed either on Friday or early next week on the debt limit deadline.
Treasury yields were up across the curve again on Thursday, as once again the sellers continue to take profits. It is likely that we will see some month-end window dressing over the next two sessions. The two-year paper yield jumped 17 basis points to close back over 4% at 4.08%, while the 10-year note finished the day up 10 basis points at 3.53%. The inversion between the two securities indicates recession is on the way.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished the day higher, after a rough week that saw prices decline for both oil benchmarks. We noted earlier this week that the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced a massive crude oil draw of 5.1 million barrels for the period ending April 21. Natural gas also finished the day higher at $2.36.
Gold finished the day lower as equities continued to rally, despite data that shows that central banks have been buying gold at a record pace in 2023. Bitcoin had a huge day, closing up over 4% at $29,605.
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, April 28, 2023.
Albany International Corp. (NYSE: AIN): Truist Financial upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and lifted its $90 target price to $105. The consensus target is $99.80. The stock closed on Thursday at $91.52, which was up over 6%, after solid results were posted this week.
ASGN Inc. (NASDAQ: ASGN): BofA Securities cut its Buy rating to Underperform and its $109 price target to $66. The consensus target is $96.17 for now. The stock closed almost 5% lower on Thursday at $70.97, after a seemingly solid earnings report and the downgrade.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $52 target price to $58. The consensus target is $56.00, and Thursday’s close was at $52.03.
Cambridge Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATC): Keefe Bruyette downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and cut its $85 price target to $62. The consensus target is $79.00 for now. The stock closed almost 4% lower on Thursday at $52.13 after the downgrade.
Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW): Citing rising costs and dwindling deposits, Zacks named this as its Bear of the Day stock. Shares have traded as high as $86.63 in the past year but closed most recently at $51.73. That is down almost 38% year to date.
Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS): Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $540 target price. That compares with a $500.08 consensus target and Thursday’s closing print of $450.82.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY): UBS reiterated a Neutral rating but nudged its $47 target price to $49. Mizuho also reiterated a Neutral rating, and it lifted its $45 target to $48. Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating and bumped its price objective to $53 from $50. The consensus target is $47.70. The stock closed on Thursday at $45.56, up over 5% on the day following solid first-quarter results.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): BMO Capital Markets lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform and its $150 target price to $125. The consensus target price is $132.95. The shares closed on Thursday at $126.51.
Elevance Health Inc. (NYSE: ELV): Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight. It also boosted its $500 target price to $571, above the $568.77 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $465.40.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX): Zacks makes the case that the willingness of its Bull of the Day to reward shareholders and cut costs will be a key catalyst this year. The shares last closed at $225.94, and the consensus price target of $252.00 would be a 52-week high.
FirstService Corp. (NASDAQ: FSV): The TD Securities upgrade to Buy from Hold included a target price hike to $170 from $150. The consensus target is $153.67. The shares closed on Thursday at $146.04.
24/7 Wall St.Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $630 target price. The consensus target is $601.55, and shares closed at $525.28 on Thursday.
KLA Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target price to $456 from $409. The consensus target is $427.30. Thursday’s $384.64 closed was up almost 8% on the day after the company posted stellar quarterly results.
Longboard Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: LBPH): B. Ruler Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $13 target price. The consensus target is $17.50. The stock closed almost 10% higher on Thursday at $8.35 due to the upgrade and positive commentary.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating, and it lifted its $245 target price to $300. Stifel also maintained a Buy rating, and its $230 target price increased to $280. Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and lifted its $260 target price to $285. The shares ended Thursday at $238.56, which was up close to 14% on blowout earnings.
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC): Stifel reiterated a Buy rating but trimmed its target price to $243 from $247. Barclays maintained an Equal Weight rating and its $250 target price dropped to $235. BMO Capital Markets stayed with an Outperform rating but its $250 target price is now $240. The consensus target is $237.92. The stock closed on Thursday at $200.86.
Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR): BMO Capital Markets lowered its Outperform rating to Market Perform and its $165 target price to $150. The consensus target is $132.95, and shares closed on Thursday at $134.17.
Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU): Jefferies reiterated an Underperform rating but raised its target price to $41 from $36. BofA Securities maintained a Buy rating, and its $85 target price ticked up to $86. Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and trimmed its $85 price target to $75. The consensus target is $68.76. The stock closed on Thursday at $57.01.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating, but its $525 target price is less than the $535.11 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $454.34
Silgan Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLGN): Citigroup upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Its $56 target price is less than the $58.70 consensus target. Thursday’s close was at $48.36.
2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU): Goldman Sachs lowered its $11.50 target price on the Buy-rated shares to $10. The consensus target is $11.23. The stock closed over 5% higher on Thursday at $5.39 in the wake of strong results.
Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX): Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating with a $35 target price. The consensus target is $19.50. Thursday’s close was at $19.61. The stock exploded higher earlier in the week on positive clinical results.
Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO): As Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Underweight from Neutral, its target price was reduced to $11 from $16. The consensus target is $15.41. The shares were last seen Thursday trading at $14.81.
Wolfspeed Inc. (NYSE: WOLF): Goldman Sachs lowered its $90 price target on the Buy-rated shares to $80. The consensus target is $88.24 for now. The stock closed 20% lower on Thursday at $46.00 in the wake of disappointing earnings.
Five Jefferies stock picks have huge exposure to the purchasing power of the Chinese consumer and make sense for long-term growth investors seeking companies that should remain leaders in their sectors regardless of economic conditions.
Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albertsons Companies, Alphabet, Apple, Coinbase Global, Danaher, Enphase Energy, GE HealthCare Technologies, General Electric, McDonald’s, Microsoft, PulteGroup and Tesla.
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