Here Are Tuesday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Akamai Technolgies, Apple, Blackrock, Ford Motor, Healthcare Realty Trust, Noble, Sunoco LP, Venture Global, Western Midstream Partners, Zoetis, and More
Apple just got cut, BlackRock got a lift, and chipmakers are under pressure ahead of a week packed with big-tech earnings. Find out which stocks Wall Street is moving on Tuesday and why the calls matter right now.
Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading lower, led by Nasdaq futures, as chipmakers come under attack this morning. The AI trade made a Monday comeback after a dreadful period last week. The Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS | GS Price Prediction) upgrade of CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) was a lynchpin in Monday’s move higher, despite the shares actually closing flat on the day, and helped the Nasdaq close at 26,430, up 1.11%, while the S&P 500 finished the day at 7,690, up 0.41%. The small-cap Russell 2000 finished the session at 2,728, up 0.25%, while the legacy Dow Jones Industrials was the only index to close down 0.07% at 51,966. With an avalanche of earnings this week and some early key big-tech numbers, we could move sharply higher or lower, depending on the data.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were higher across the curve on Monday, except for the two shortest maturities, as the sellers returned after some substantial buying over the last week. Buyers were expected to emerge in force after yields hit multi-decade highs in recent weeks, and while rates are likely to go higher, that won’t be until November or the last Fed meeting in December. The 30-year bond closed Monday’s session at 5.48%, while the benchmark 10-year note closed at 5.15%.
Oil and Gas:
Prices were modestly lower across the board, as one of Monday’s biggest headlines was Qatar offering Lebanon 2 gas plants and 20 years of LNG piped through Syria. The energy complex’s changes, along with disruptions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, will improve product distribution in the future. Brent Crude finished Monday at $109.40, down 0.40%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $98.44, down 0.59%. Natural gas also closed lower at $3.04, down 2.44%.
Gold:
Precious metals had a quiet start to the week, but higher Treasury yields and a stronger dollar kept prices in check. Gold closed at $4,139, down 0.58%, while Silver was last seen up 0.19% at $57.22. Some analysts cited caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s October meeting, where most on Wall Street expect no change to the fed funds rate.
Crypto:
Crypto shook off a weekend hangover on Monday, defying the doom-loopers who predicted a full-blown “Black Monday” collapse after a sharp Sunday selloff—sparked by a liquidation cascade in tokenized AI derivatives—as major digital assets managed to find their footing.
The weekend damage wasn’t pretty: it forced liquidations and wiped out roughly $352 million in leveraged long positions across the broader market. But as is often the case in crypto, once the over-leveraged traders were carried off the field, thin weekend liquidity gave way to steady institutional and retail buying on Monday, averting a systemic meltdown. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was trading at $81,374, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,385.
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 from Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James, with an unchanged $170 target price.
- American Electric Power Company (NYSE: AEP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BTIG, with a $147 target price.
- BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Cowen, which raised the target price for the money management giant to $1.405 from $1,212.
- Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, with a $23 price target.
- Venture Global (NYSE: VG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Wells Fargo, which boosted the target price for the share to $21 from $15.
Downgrades:
- Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Loop Capital, citing iPhone concerns, and the price target on the legacy tech company was cut to $330 from $370.
- Elanco (NASDAQ: ELAN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which lowered the target price to $24 from $31.
- Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Fearnley, with a $49 target price.
- Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird, which cut the target price for the stock to $32 from $43.
- Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, which slashed the target price to $83 from $103.
Initiations:
- News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Raymond James, with a $35 target price.
- Ford Motor (NYSE: F) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Oxcap, with a $15.50 target price.
- Modine Manufacturing Company (NYSE: MOD) was started with an Overweight rating at Cantor Fitzgerald, with a $275 target price.
- Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) was assumed in coverage with an Overweight rating at JPMorgan, with an $87 target price.
- Western Midstream Partners (NYSE: WES) was assumed in coverage at JPMorgan with an Overweight rating and a $50 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.
