Here Are Friday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Amgen, ETSY, Eldorado Gold, GE Aerospace, Merck, Southern Company, Walmart, Yeti, and More

Pre-Market Stock Futures:

Futures are trading lower as we wrap up the holiday-shortened week that gave us a little taste of just about everything. While Walmart posted results that beat expectations, its forward guidance and outlook fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the stock was down from the opening bell to the close. All of the major indices finished the day lower, except one, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading the way down, closing at 49,395, down 0.54%. The S&P 500 was last seen on Thursday at 6,861, down 0.23%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at 22,682, down 0.31%. The small-cap Russell 2000, which is still the top-performing index so far in 2026, was the only winner yesterday, actually closing higher by a slim 0.08% at 2,664.

Treasury Bonds:

Yields were mixed on Thursday after Wednesday’s heavy selling lured some buyers back. Still, the longer the geopolitical pressure from the Middle East and the situation with Iran persist, the longer a strong bid to support U.S. Treasury debt will remain in place. The 30-year-long bond closed the day at 4.70% while the benchmark 10-year note finished the day at 4.07%

Oil and Gas:

The ongoing tensions in the Middle East and with Iran continue to push oil and energy stocks higher, even though it is widely acknowledged across Wall Street that oversupply is a big issue. When things settle down, you can bet that sellers will emerge in a big way. Brent crude closed Thursday’s session at $71.67, up 1.88%, while West Texas Intermediate was last seen at $66.45, up 2.1% on the day. Warm weather across much of the nation pushed natural gas down 1.33% to close at $2.97. 

Gold:

Gold was modestly higher on Thursday, closing up 0.39% at $4,995. The consolidation of the bullion around the $5,000 level has held since the big sell-off last month. Silver, which has been hit harder than Gold after a huge run higher, closed Thursday at $78.67, up 1.75%.

Crypto:

The cryptocurrency market traded in a range-bound, cautious manner on Thursday, with Bitcoin holding around $67,000 for most of the day. After recent volatility and a sharp early February selling spree, market sentiment for cryptocurrencies remains shaky at best, with altcoins lagging and investors keeping a close eye on policy-related, higher-for-longer interest rate concerns. Crypto was a very fashionable trade for the last few years, but the momentum has faded, and the digital payments world may need a big catalyst to reverse the downward trend. At 8 AM EST, Bitcoin was trading at $67,400, while Ethereum was trading at $ 1,948.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. 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. 

Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Friday, February 20, 2026.  

Upgrades:

• ETSY Inc. (NYSE: ETSY) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which raised the price target to $72 from $62.
• Group 1 Automotive Inc. (NYSE: GPI) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, with a $370 target price.
• Paymentus Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PAY) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James, which trimmed the target price for the shares to $35 from $41.
• Southern Company (NYSE: SO) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Wells Fargo, with a $96 target price.
• Yeti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: YETI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley, which boosted the target price for the stock to $54 from $35.

Downgrades:

• Borgwarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS, which raised the target price for the stock to $55 from $49.
• Coeur Mining Inc. (NYSE: CDE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord, which lowered the target price to $26 from $26.50.
• Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at CIBC, with a $54 target price.
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, which trimmed the target price for the company to $330 from $340.
• Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT | WMT Price Prediction) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC, which bumped the target price for the legacy retail giant to $131 from $122.

Initiations:

• Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Baird, with a $55 target price. 
  
• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was initiated withan Equal Weight rating at Barclays, which has a $185 price target for the biotech giant.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc. (NYSE: BMY) was started with an Overweight rating at Barclays, with a $75 target price.
• GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, which has set a $425 target price objective.
• Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) was started with an Overweight rating at Barclays, with a $140 target price.