Here Are Friday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Deckers Outdoor, Globe Life, Guardant Health, Hess Midstream LP, Kimberly-Clark, Natera, NVR, SpaceX, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and More
A wild Thursday saw Treasury yields crater, oil surge past $111, crypto liquidations top $431 million, and Meta's cash flow surprise rattle markets. Now analysts are reshuffling their calls on some of the week's most closely watched names.
Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading lower as we get to wrap up a busy week, and what a week it has been. After a solid mid-week rally on Wednesday that had Wall Street jumping, sellers brought the hammer to the party on Thursday after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META | META Price Prediction) announced negative free cash flow for the quarter, following a strong earnings beat. Once again, concerns over AI project financing resurfaced, and stocks took a pounding: the Nasdaq fell 2.6% to close Thursday at 26,008, while the S&P 500, with its large tech weightings, dropped 1.21% to 7,553. The legacy Dow Industrials eeked out a modest gain, closing up 0.02% at 52,868, while the small-cap Russell 2000 led the way, closing back above the 3000 level at 3005 up 0.11%.
Treasury Bonds:
The real story of the day was the wild ride in the Treasury market, as yields plunged in a massive safe-haven buying spree, capping one of the biggest one-day moves in some time and one of the biggest monthly moves in U.S. sovereign debt markets in years. Rising oil prices, harsh geopolitical rhetoric over the war with Iran, worries about regional expansion, and a collapse in Fed rate-hike bets all brought buyers to the table. When the smoke cleared, the 30-year Treasury bond closed trading at 5.28%, down a stunning 15 basis points, the largest single-day decline since August of 2024, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 4.96%, down 18.5 basis points.
To put these moves in perspective, the 30-year traded as high as 5.67% on October 6, a remarkable 24-year high, while the 10-year hit 5.31% the same week. Needless to say, short covering and huge futures bets on yield direction have exacerbated these moves, but the lightning-quick swings up and down are enough to give traders whiplash.
Oil and Gas:
Much of what we saw yesterday and over the last few weeks was triggered by yet another spike in energy prices, which hit a 5-month high as the president continues to warn that Iran strikes are coming after the midterms. This comes as the Saudi’s prepare to go after the Houthi rebels after deadly strikes on the King Khalid Airport in Riyadh and energy infrastructure. When the final bell rang, Brent Crude closed at $113, while West Texas Intermediate last traded at $99.47. After a bad stretch, Natural gas broke a multi-day losing streak to finish at $2.80, up 0.22%.
Gold:
Surprisingly, in a day that saw a massive flight to safety in the bond market, sellers emerged in the precious metals complex. Traders cited gold liquidations to raise cash to cover margin calls on other assets. When the final trade came in, gold closed at $4,039, down 0.51%, while silver last traded at $54.63, down 0.69%.
Crypto:
Crypto got hammered on Thursday, dropping over 3% and wiping out Wednesday’s massive gains. After that brief mid-week tease, where Bitcoin almost touched $85k, the rally completely slammed on the brakes. Between macroeconomic panic, driven by oil spiking past $111 a barrel, and brutal tech earnings, traders immediately dumped risk assets. The domino effect triggered over $431 million in liquidations, completely wrecking anyone trading with leverage on both sides. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was trading at $81,535, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,401.
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 Friday, October 23, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Hess Midstream LP (NYSE: HESM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, with a $32 target price.
- MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens, with a $135 target price.
- Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: SKYD) was resumed and upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan, which lowered the target price to $9 from $14.
- Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ: SPCX) was upgraded to Buy from Sell at Phillip Securities, which boosted the target price for the shares to $250 from $75.
- Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe, Bruyette with a $17 target price.
Downgrades:
- Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler, which dropped the target price to $75 from $100.
- First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE: FR) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, which trimmed the target price for the shares to $72 from $86.
- Globe Life (NYSE: GL) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, which lowered the target price for the stock to $165 from $200.
- NVR (NYSE: NVR) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Bank of America, which slashed the target price to $5,900 from $6,725.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) was cut to Hold from Buy by DZ Bank, with a $650 target price.
Initiations:
- Diodes Incorporated (NASDAQ: DIOD) was started with a Buy rating at Needham, with a $110 target price.
- Guardant Health (NYSE: GH) Roth Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and has a $200 target price for the stock.
- Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) was initiated with a Hold rating at Canaccord, with a $105 target price.
- Natera (NASDAQ: NTRA) was initiated with a Buy rating at Roth Capital, with a $475 target price.
- Quantum (NASDAQ: QMCO) was started with an Overweight rating at Cantor Fitzgerald, which has a $29 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.
