The futures were trading higher as we prepare to end a crazy back-and-forth week on Wall Street. All the major indexes except the Nasdaq tumbled Thursday after more bank worries spread, with PacWest once again the target, falling a stunning 30% at one point after reporting it had lost almost 10% of the bank’s deposits in the past week. Toss in the highest first-time unemployment claims in 19 months and the ongoing debt limit issues, and many investors are starting to worry that it could be a long summer. Moreover, the odds that rates will be increased again in June are rising.
Treasury yields were down across the curve for the second day in a row, as investors continue to seek safe havens for capital. Bond traders have pointed out that the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer mantra likely will stand through the rest of the year, and with pricing power fading, the economy could stumble for the rest of 2023. The 10-year note closed at 3.40%, while the two-year finished at 3.90%, keeping the inversion intact.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed modestly lower Thursday, despite former President Trump saying he will “Drill Baby, Drill” if elected. Top analysts cited the ongoing short-seller attack on the sector as one reason for weakness in the past two sessions. Natural gas was modestly lower, finishing flat at $2.19.
Gold finished Thursday lower at $2,020, while Bitcoin closed down almost 3% at $26,893. The cryptocurrency giant has tumbled almost 11% since printing a 2023 high of $30,506 on April 14.
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 Friday, May 12, 2023.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB): KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sector Weight. Its $270 price target is higher than the consensus target of $256.59. The stock closed up 2% on Thursday at $198.43. The company crushed earnings estimates last week.
Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Credit Suisse raised its Neutral rating to Outperform with a $50 target price. The consensus target is $49.24. Thursday’s final trade was for $35.33 a share.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating. Its $145 target price is well above the $129.76 consensus target. Thursday’s $116.57 close up over 4% on the day after the announcement of big AI integrations.
Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV): Kepler’s upgrade was from Hold to Buy with a $105 target price. The target is $102.63, and Thursday’s close at $88.83.
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