Investing

Friday's Hottest Wall Street Stock Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Lee Jackson

Published: January 19, 2024 9:00 am

Futures were trading higher Friday as we finish the holiday-shortened trading week after an intense turnaround day on Wall Street. All the major indices ended the day higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way, closing up 1.35% at 15,055.65. The S&P 500 was last seen up 0.88% at 4,780.94, and the Dow Jones industrials added 0.54% to finish at 37,468.61. Strong results from semiconductor companies and a big move higher from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) triggered the solid day.

Bonds

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Treasury yields continued to trade higher, with the longer maturities again catching some selling. The continued chatter about interest rate cuts being moved out as late as the fall was again a headwind for the government debt. The 10-year note closed at 4.14%, while the two-year shorter paper was last seen at 4.35%.

Commodities

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Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude also surged higher after a tough week, and the song remains the same for the energy complex as ongoing issues in the Red Sea and an expansion of the Middle East war keep traders on edge. Brent closed 1.45% at $79.01, while WTI saw a 2.07% jump to finish at $74.06. Natural gas was hammered again, closing down 5.5% at $2.71.

Gold rallied Thursday after a difficult week as well. The February contract closed the session at $2,040.30, up 0.80%. The same issues helping oil jump higher also lifted gold on Thursday. The day Bitcoin was the big loser, closing down 4.19% at $40,945.40. Traders cited profit-taking after a big run recently. (Check out the biggest celebrity cryptocurrency losers.)

Here are the top Wall Street upgrades and downgrades for Friday, January 19, 2024.

Upgrades

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AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) from Perform to Outperform with a price target of $21 at Oppenheimer.

Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE: CCI) from Underperform to Market Perform, and the price target increased from $107 to $110, at BMO Capital Markets.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) from Hold to Buy with the $40 price target increased to $45 at Stifel.

International Business Machines Corp. (NASDAQ: IBM) from In-Line to Outperform at Evercore ISI, which hiked its $165 price target to $200.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) at UBS from Neutral to Buy, with the price target increased from $170 to $195.

Downgrades

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Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) from Buy to Neutral but the $116 price target increased to $124 at Citigroup.

Chegg Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) from Neutral to Sell and the $10 price target cut to $8 at Goldman Sachs.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) from Buy to Hold at HSBC Securities, which lowered its price target from $121 to $107.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) from Neutral to Underperform with a price target of $28 at Exane BNP Paribas.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) from Equal Weight to Underweight at Barclays. No price target was given.

Other Calls

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Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) coverage resumed with a Buy rating and a $1,325 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Builders FirstSource Inc. (NYSE: BLDR) coverage initiated with an Outperform rating and a price target of $220 at Oppenheimer.

Shoals Technologies Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SHLS) initiated with a Buy rating and a $20 price target at Janney.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) reiterated at Needham with a Buy rating but the price target increased from $115 to $133.