Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are trading lower after a dreadful Friday and week, one that could be laying the foundation for a larger and more intense sell-off. The combination of the sell-off in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction), the much higher producer price index print, the ongoing confusion over the tariffs, and the weekend military action against Iran has created a witches’ brew of trouble. The sellers had the perfect storm for a risk-off Friday. All of the major indices closed lower, with the small-cap Russell 2000 getting hit the hardest, closing down 1.68% at 2,632, while the Dow Jones Industrials were a close second-place finisher, ending the day down 1.05% at 48,977. The Nasdaq ended Friday’s session at 22,668, down 0.92%, and the S&P 500 was last seen at 6,878, down 0.43%. Is there the potential for a massive sell-off like the one Warren Buffett has been preparing for seemingly forever? I wrote about it on Friday.
Treasury Bonds:
Just like Thursday, the free-falling stock market had investors running for safety on Friday, and yields across the Treasury curve were down across the board. The 30-year-long bond closed Friday at 4.62%, while the yield on the benchmark ten-year note dropped under 4% to close at 3.95%. That is the first close under the 4% level since late last year and could be very positive for the struggling housing markets, as mortgage rates for 30-year FHA mortgages fell to 5.98%, the lowest in over 4 years.
Oil and Gas:
Prices were higher across the energy complex as concerns over a potential conflict with Iran turned into a reality, as the United States had amassed the biggest military presence build-up since the Iraq War, over 20 years ago. It was reported over the weekend that oil was trading 10% higher after the combined U.S. and Israeli attack, and today will give us a better look at how prices will respond. OPEC+ announced an increase in production of 220,000 barrels per day on Sunday. Brent Crude finished the day at $72.48, up 2.45%, while West Texas Intermediate closed trading on Friday at $67.40, up 3.6%. Natural gas closed mostly higher at $2,87, up 0.85%.
Gold:
Mix volatility with heavy equity selling pressure, and you have the perfect day for another haven asset. Gold was strong throughout the session and finished Friday at $4,278, up 1.82%, while Silver followed suit in a big way and closed Friday at $93.66, up a massive 6.23%.
Crypto:
The cryptocurrency market experienced another leg down amid a broader risk-off sentiment in financial markets, trading in the red, further underscoring crypto’s correlation with equity markets. Traders and crypto pundits noted during the day that the decline on Friday was driven by a weak trend in Wall Street futures, lower inflows into Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs on Thursday, and a general risk-off sentiment. At 8 AM EST, Bitcoin traded at $65,939, while Ethereum traded at $1,938.
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 Monday, March 2, 2026.
Upgrades:
- AppLovin Corp. (NASDAQ: APP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Arete, with a $340 target price.
- CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler, which has a $520 target price for the shares.
- Dutch Bros. Inc. (NYSE: BROS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Goldman Sachs, with a $75 target price.
- JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays, which raised the airline’s target price to $7 from $4.
- Twilio Inc. (NYSE: TWLO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Cowen, who lifted the target price for the stock to $160 from $125.
Downgrades:
- AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo, which has a $132 target price for the stock.
- Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE: OWL) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, which trimmed the target price to $11 from $15.
- Gitlab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB) was cut to Hold from Buy at TD Cowen, which slashed the target price to $29 from $56.
- Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which dropped the target price for the company to $41 from $63.
- PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at KGI Securities, which has a $55 target price objective.
Initiations:
- Bob’s Discount Furniture Inc. (NYSE: BOBS) was started with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs with a $25 target price. KeyBanc initiated coverage of the stock with an Overweight rating and a $28 target, while JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $29 target. The stock was a recent IPO.
- Forgent Power Inc. (NYSE: FPS) was initiated with a Buy rating at Jefferies with a $44 target. JPMorgan started the shares with an Overweight rating and a $40 target, while Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy rating and has a $48 target. This was another recent IPO.
- Genmab A/S (NASDAQ: GMAB) was started with an Overweight rating at Wells Fargo, which has a $40 target price.
- Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was reinstated with an Equal Weight rating at Barclays, which has a $115 target for the streaming and content giant.
- Versant Media Group Inc. (NASDAQ: VSNT) was started with a Hold rating at TD Cowen with a $32 target price.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks