Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading higher, as traders and investors breathed a big sigh of relief on Wednesday after the consumer price index data came in right on Wall Street expectations, with a 3.4% year-over-year print and a 0.01% month-over-month increase. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy costs, rose 2.5%. After the inline inflation reports, stocks moved higher; we finished the mid-week session with three of the major indices closing up, with the small-cap Russell 2000 leading the way, closing up 0.63% at 3,046. The tech-heavy Nasdaq had a solid day, closing at 26,588, up 0.55%, while the S&P 500 posted a good day, closing the session at 7,748, up 0.26%. The Dow Jones Industrial posted a small loss and finished at 53,770, down 0.04%. The inflation watch continues this morning with the producer price index report at 8.30 AM EDT. Economists are predicting a month-over-month headline increase of 0.2% and a core PPI increase of 0.3%.
Treasury Bonds:
Needless to say, bond traders were also on pins and needles, awaiting the CPI report, and yields across the Treasury curve were mostly flat as the benign inflation numbers had little effect. The 30-year long bond finished the day at 5.25%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen unchanged on the day at 4.69%. Natural gas closed at $2.80, up 1.05%.
Oil and Gas:
After some strong buying in the energy sector over the last week, buyers took a breather on Wednesday, and both major benchmarks finished the day modestly lower. Traders cited the International Energy Agency report, where they cut 2026 oil demand figures dramatically, predicting that demand will fall by 1.6 million barrels per day. When the final bell rang, Brent Crude closed down 0.29%, at $88.65, while West Texas Intermediate closed 0.25% lower at $82.98.
Gold:
The precious metals had another solid day, as the August rally continues to push prices higher. When the final trade hit the tape Wednesday, gold was reported at $4,406, up 0.90%, while silver was last seen at $65.38, up 0.57%. The song remains the same as global central bank buying continues to keep a pretty consistent bid under the precious metals.
Crypto:
CoinDesk reported that Crypto traded in a narrow, subdued range on Wednesday as markets reacted to an in-line U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation report showing annual inflation cooling to 3.4%. Bitcoin hovered around $63,500 to $64,000, while Ethereum stayed near $1,875, showing little overall momentum. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was trading at $63,300, while Ethereum was quoted at $1,879.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day to identify fresh investment ideas for investors and traders alike. These daily analyst notes include recommendations on stocks to buy, sell, or avoid, as well as new coverage initiations. Important reminder: No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT | ABT Price Prediction) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe Research, with a $130 target price.
- AbbVie (NASDAQ: ABBV) was also upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Wolfe Research, which has set a $300 target price objective.
- Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan, which moved the target price up to $158 from $132.
- Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, which raised the target price in a big way to $350 from $210.
- Keurig Dr. Pepper (NYSE: KDP) was raised to Buy from Hold at HSBC, with a $40 target price.
Downgrades:
- Alcon (NYSE: ALC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas, with a $79 target price.
- Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ: BWMN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Roth Capital, which lowered the target price for the stock to $43 from $58.
- Monopar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MNPR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Cantor Fitzgerald, which bumped the target price for the shares to $119 from $109.
- Stryker (NYSE: SYK) was cut to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research, without a price target.
- StubHub Holdings (NYSE: STUB) was cut to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America, which trimmed the target price to $7.50 from $11.
Initiations:
- Allegro MicroSystems (NASDAQ: ALGM) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, with a $60 target price.
- Carriage Services (NYSE: CSV) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Oppenheimer, with a $48 price target.
- MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings (NASDAQ: MTSI) was initiated with a Buy rating at Benchmark, with a $375 target price.
- Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) was resumed with an Overweight rating at JPMorgan, with a $250 target price.
- Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) was started with a Sell rating at Goldman Sachs, with a $132 target price.
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