July’s Recovery or Bear Market Rally: Analyst Upgrades or Downgrades include AbbVie, Bumble, Palo Alto Networks, Target and More

Markets were somewhat mixed to start out the month of August after bouncing back over the course of July. The Nasdaq was leading the charge higher, up roughly 0.4%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were each little changed so far.

Withstanding this current start to August, each of the major averages saw their best month since 2020. The Nasdaq posted a gain of just over 12%, one of its best months ever, while the Dow rose nearly 7% for the month of July. Separately, the S&P 500 gained a little more than 9% after having its worst start to the year since 1962.

There is something to be said for a potential recovery in the works for the market and for the consumer as gas prices are seeing a drop-off from summer’s surge. However, bears might argue that this is merely a bear market rally and there is still a ways to go down before a true recovery can start, given the current economic situation.

Inflation is still holding near 40+ year highs and it hasn’t shown that it is backing off anytime soon. The last four prints from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) have each been over 8%, a level not seen since the early 80’s. In order to counter these levels of inflation, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates that would ultimately result in the market slowing down as the availability of cheap money dissipates. Lastly, be on the lookout for the July employment report due Friday morning.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing additional analyst calls seen on Monday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on Meta, Qualcomm, Spirit Airlines, Wingstop, and more.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV): Atlantic Equities downgraded to a Neutral rating from Overweight and cut the price target to $162 from $178. The shares traded near $142 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $105.56 to $175.91 a share.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO): Cowen downgraded to a Market Perform rating from Outperform and cut the price target to $13 from $25. The 52-week trading range is $10.82 to $35.62, and shares traded more than $11 apiece on Monday.

Bumble Inc. (NADSAQ: BMBL): Jefferies downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy but raised the price target to $39 from $30. The 52-week trading range is $15.41 to $61.05. The stock traded near $37 on Monday.

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR): Barclays downgraded to an Underweight rating from Equal Weight and cut the price target to $388 from $436. The 52-week trading range is $407.75 to $825.62, and shares were trading near $428 on Monday.

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW): Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $700 price target. The stock traded near $498 on Monday. The 52-week trading range is $358.37 to $640.90.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI): Pivotal Research Group downgraded to a Hold rating from Buy with a $105 price target. The stock traded near $6 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $5.69 to $6.88.

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE: SWK): Wells Fargo downgraded to an Equal Weight rating from Overweight with a $105 price target. The 52-week range is $93.56 to $203.69. Shares traded near $95 apiece on Monday.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT): Wells Fargo upgraded to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight with a $195 price target. The 52-week trading range is $137.16 to $268.98, and shares traded near $168 apiece on Monday.

By Chris Lange