Friday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Activision Blizzard, Carvana, Cisco, Estee Lauder, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia, Qualcomm and More
The futures were trading mixed, as we get set to end a wild week that saw the major indexes push to levels not seen since 2022. The Dow Jones industrial average continued to storm higher on Thursday, closing up for the ninth straight session, the longest streak for the venerable index since 2017. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, which have been on fire recently, both finished the day lower as some disappointing earnings, continued high claims for unemployment and signs that the economy continues to contract were all cited as reasons for the sellers to come to the table.
Treasury yields were higher across the curve Thursday, as the sellers returned in a big way, with some maturities seeing double-digit increases. Despite the jump in yields in the Treasury complex, yields likely will end the week lower, depending on Friday’s trading. The 10-year note closed at 3.85%, while the shorter two-year paper closed Thursday at 4.84%, keeping the inversion at 99 basis points, among the widest in over 40 years.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude finished the day modestly higher, as once again the rig count in the United States fell, this week to 675, which is 81 rigs less than this time last year. Brent closed the day at $79.64, while WTI was last seen at $75.63. Natural gas had a big day, closing up over 5% at $2.74.
Gold finished Thursday lower, after a strong week, at $1971.80. The declining U.S. dollar, slowing inflation fears and rising energy prices all have provided a tailwind for the bullion this week. Bitcoin finished Thursday modestly lower at $29,724.40.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each weekday with a goal of finding fresh ideas for investors and traders alike. 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. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, July 21, 2023.
Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI): UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and has a $96 target The consensus target is lower at $92.83, and Tuesday’s closing share price was $92.29. Most across Wall Street feel that the deal with Microsoft is finally all but done.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): Exane BNP Paribas began coverage with an Outperform rating and $210 target price. That compares to the $168.65 consensus target and Thursday’s closing share price of $171.41.
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS): Zacks makes the case that its Bull of the Day is headed higher after earnings, while Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy and its $210 target price to $300. Shares last closed at $238.79, and the $251.32 consensus price target would be an all-time high.
Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS): B. Riley Securities initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $26 price target. The consensus target is $22.29. Thursday’s last trade was for $21.77 a share.
Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA): Though RBC Capital Markets downgraded the shares to Underperform from Sector Perform, the analyst raised the $9 target price to $30. The consensus target is $20.06. The shares closed Thursday at $46.73, which was down over 16% for the day after a recent huge short-squeeze rally that exploded the shares higher.
Catalent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT): Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $43 price objective. The consensus target is up at $50.00. Thursday’s $47.58 close was up more than 2% on the day.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO): Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on the shares with an Underperform rating and a $45 target price. The $55.88 consensus target is higher, and Thursday’s closing share price was $52.37.
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