Pre-Market Stock Futures:
The futures are trading lower on Tuesday, but another week and another set of new highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, as AI fever overshadowed Iran’s peace counteroffer dismissal on Monday. The stock market opened lower on the rejection of President Trump’s peace offering, but buyers once again circled the wagons. Positive earnings and a tidal wave of momentum for all things AI and technology were enough to lift the major indexes higher by noon, and by the close, all finished higher. The Russell 2000, the leading index this year, closed up 0.25% on Monday to 2,868. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.27% at 7,419, its first close ever over 7,400, while the Nasdaq closed just barely higher, up 0.10 % at 26,274. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also posted a winning day, up 0.10% to 49,657.
Treasury Bonds:
After a solid end to the week last Friday, the bond market saw sellers come in on Monday as rates rose across the entire yield curve, with the bulk of the move in the belly and on the long end. Traders cited the Iranian situation, the fact that inflation continues to run hotter than the Federal Reserve’s target, and the possibility that hopes for a rate cut this year may be dashed as reasons for the selling at the start of the week. The 30-year long bond closed the session at 4.98%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.41%.
Oil and Gas:
Needless to say, all the oil bulls needed was the President to reject Iran’s counter, and the oil benchmarks took off higher. By the end of the day, Brent Crude was higher by 2.96% and closed at $104.30, while West Texas Intermediate finished the session at $98.30, up 3.02%. Natural gas closed up 5.84% at $2.92.
Gold:
Gold followed through on last week’s strength, posting a solid start to the week. By the closing bell, the precious metal was last seen at $4,733, up 0.42%, while Silver, which was on fire Friday, closed the session at $85.76, up 6.91%.
Crypto:
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 Tuesday, May 12, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK | ADSK Price Prediction) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America, with a $300 target price.
- Celanese (NYSE: CE) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which stays with a $68 target price for the shares.
- FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig-Hallum, which has a $175 target price.
- Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, with a $286 target price for the big box retail giant.
- Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Truist Financial, which bumped the target price for the stock to $67 from $60.
Downgrades:
- GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James, without a target price.
- Lenz Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LENZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler,
- Toast (NYSE: TOST) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Rothschild & Co Redburn, with a $35 target price.
- United Parks & Resorts (NYSE: PRKS) was cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel, which trimmed the target price for the stock to $40 from $42.
Initiations:
- DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, with a $77 target price.
- Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, with a $250 price target.
- MaxLinear (NYSE: MXL) was reinstated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, which has set a $28 target price.
- MiniMed Group (NASDAQ: MMED) was started with a Buy rating at Benchmark with a $20 target price.
- Versant Media Group (NASDAQ: VSNT) was initiated with a Neutral rating at JPMorgan, with a $43 target price.