The futures traded higher on Valentine’s Day, after a big Monday to start the trading week in which all the major indexes finished the day higher. The big data release Tuesday is the January consumer price index (CPI) numbers, and while the year-over-year results were higher at 6.4% (versus 6.2%) and the year-over-year core numbers were above estimates at 5.6% (versus 5.5%), the month-over-month numbers came in as expected. The move higher will clearly give the Federal Reserve all the ammo needed for another 25-basis-point increase in March.
J.P. Morgan recently said that the current rally is likely to be the high point for this year, while Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson, who made a strong bearish call last year, feels that lows for stocks will come in the spring, noting that risk-reward for investors now is “as poor as it has been.”
Treasury yields closed lower on Monday, as the bond market waited for the aforementioned CPI. Worried investors have been flocking to the safety of higher yields in the short maturities. The two-year paper closed Monday at 4.52%, while the 10-year note closed at 3.72%, maintaining the widest inversion since 1981.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed slightly lower on Monday. This came after a big week last week in which the crude benchmarks surged 8.5% higher, the largest advance for the two since early in October. Natural gas had another rough day Monday, falling almost 3% and trading at levels not seen since September of 2021. Gold and Bitcoin both finished Monday lower.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week 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 Tuesday, February 14, 2023.
Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Roth MKM downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and cut its $180 price target to $140. The consensus target is $165.16, and the stock closed on Monday at $152.19.
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB): Credit Suisse’s upgrade to Outperform from Neutral included a target price boost from $32.00 to $43.50. The consensus target is $38.80. Monday’s close was at $40.39.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN): Though Truist Financial reiterated a Buy rating on the biotechnology giant, it lowered its $280 target price to $260. The consensus target is $261.03. Monday’s final trade was for $243.66 a share.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): Baird cut its Overweight rating to Neutral and its $290 target price to $230. The consensus target is $252, and Monday’s closing share price was $248.15.
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