Here Are Friday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Ambarella, Cal-Maine Foods, Lennar, Ormat Technologies, Paychex, PulteGroup, Shell plc, TotalEnergies, W.P. Carey, and More
Wall Street wrapped a turbulent week with a wave of upgrades and downgrades hitting energy giants, homebuilders, and tech names just ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Find out which stocks analysts are rushing to buy and which ones just…
Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading mixed as we wrap up a wild and woolly week across Wall Street and head into the 3-day Labor Day holiday weekend. All the major indices finished higher Thursday on falling yields and positive words from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who said he would be OK leaving rates unchanged at the Federal Reserve meeting in two weeks if inflation data remained in check.
That’s all it took for stocks to explode higher out of the gate, and they remained positive until the close. When the final bell sounded, the Nasdaq led the day, closing up 1.4% at 26,584, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 53,686, up 1.18%. The S&P 500 also put in a strong showing, finishing the session up 1.06% at 7,747, and the Russell 2000 closed at 2,966, up 0.46%. Expect a very slow Friday, as most of Wall Street will be out early and starting the long weekend.
Treasury Bonds:
While the market exploded higher on lower yields Thursday, yields weren’t down much. By the close, the 30-year bond traded at 5.25%, while the benchmark 10-year note ended the day at 4.77%. Both are down only about 3 basis points from the recent highs. Non-farm payrolls for August will be released this morning, and rate expectations may hinge on the report’s strength or weakness.
Oil and Gas:
Despite continued unrest in the Middle East, crude prices were mixed on Thursday as traders zeroed in on the weekend. The President soothed some frayed nerves Thursday when he said the recent attacks and missile strikes will not be indefinite. At the close, Brent Crude finished at $95.68, up 0.05%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $91.64, up 0.69%. Natural gas also closed lower Thursday, down 1.35% at $2.92.
Gold:
After an up-and-down week, Gold had a solid day on Thursday, closing at $4,475, up 1.89%, while Silver closed the day at $66.79, up 2.03%. The flight-to-safety appeal of the bullion and ongoing worries over the Middle East continue to keep a bid under the precious metals complex.
Crypto:
Crypto markets rallied sharply on Thursday, with Bitcoin breaking back above $80,000 as fading interest rate fears sparked a broad sector surge. Traders noted that $500 million in liquidations on Thursday, mostly attributed to short-covering, provided some of the wind at Bitcoin’s back. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was trading at $81,280, while Ethereum was quoted at $2523.
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 Friday, September 4, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA | ORA Price Prediction) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein, with an unchanged $112 target price.
- Shell PLC (NYSE: SHEL) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, which raised the price target to $101.30 from $81.60.
- Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ: SFNC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler, which nudged the target price to $27.50 from $26.
- Sonida Senior Living (NASDAQ: SNDA) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, which raised the target price to $43 from $37.
- W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Bernstein, with an $80 target price.
Downgrades:
- Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Craig-Hallum, which cut the target price for the shares to $70 from $95.
- Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM) was cut to Hold from Buy at StoneX, without a price target.
- Hanson Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure (NASDAQ: HASI) was cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS, which dropped the target price to $44 from $51.
- TotalEnergies SE (NYSE: TTE) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, which bumped the price target for the shares to $90 from $88.
- UiPath (NASDAQ: PATH) was cut to Hold from Buy at Canaccord, which bumped the target price for the stock to $17 from $15.
Initiations:
- Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Stephens, with an $11 target price.
- Belite Bio (NASDAQ: BLTE) was initiated with a Buy rating at Canaccord, with a $303 target price.
- Lennar (NYSE: LEN) was started with a Hold rating at StoneX, without a price target.
- Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) was started with an Equal Weight rating at Stephens, with a $132 target price.
- Pulte Group (NYSE: PHM) was initiated with a Buy rating at StoneX, with a $148 target price.
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Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad, diverse career, including a stint as creative services director at an NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry.
Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans more than 30 years, including nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career spanned pivotal sell-side Wall Street events, from the dot-com rise and bubble to the Long-Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This reflects his resilience and adaptability amid market volatility.
Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, gained through a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing across various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies of Wall Street in a way only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.
Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.
