The futures were trading mixed on the final day of the first quarter of 2023. Despite the volatility, investors were rewarded with solid gains for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to start off 2023, and all the major indexes closed higher Thursday. The song remains the same, as fears of financial contagion have settled, massive buying of big-tech stocks by the major institutions continues, and while the expectations for a Federal Reserve pivot any time soon are starting to fade, especially with “sticky inflation” stubbornly remaining, all eyes are turning to first-quarter earnings reporting, which is just over a week away.
Treasury yields were modestly lower across the curve Thursday as some buyers returned. We likely could see some big shuffling in the government securities complex, as portfolio managers scramble to do quarter-end window dressing. The two-year and 10-year inversion widened again, as the short paper closed at 4.12% and the other closed at 3.55%. The inversion continues to suggest a recession is coming, and many think it will be a third-quarter 2023 event.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both finished the day higher, after OPEC delegates said that current production cuts will remain. That likely will be formally announced on Monday when the cartel meets. While prices have rebounded nicely, both Brent and WTI are below where they were trading when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. Natural gas, which has been under pressure, closed at $2.10.
Gold rebounded Thursday, after a couple of days of profit-taking earlier in the week. The bullion closed up 0.85% at $1,982, while Bitcoin, which has been on fire since the beginning of the year, finished the day 1.2% lower at $28,019.
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, March 31, 2023.
AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Buy rating and a $74 target price. The consensus target is $77.29. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $55.36 a share.
American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT): MoffettNathanson upgraded the cell tower giant to Outperform from Market Perform and trimmed its $244 target price to $234. The consensus target is $242.87, and shares closed on Thursday at $201.21.
Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW): Morgan Stanley lowered its $99 target price to $68 as it downgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Overweight. The consensus target is $82.49. The stock closed 5% lower on Thursday at $52.47 after the downgrade.
Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and a $157 target price. The consensus target is $151.22. The shares closed almost 5% higher on Thursday at $125.06 on the initiation.
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