The futures were trading mixed after a very up and down day on Wall Street Wednesday that saw the Dow Jones industrials and Russell 2000 close higher. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the day in the red, after very disappointing results from Alphabet and Microsoft and a host of other tech stocks, many of which have announced layoffs as well.
With the Federal Reserve likely set to raise rates next week, and the midterm elections due the week after, it is quite possible that more volatility is coming into the market. With 50% of the Nasdaq and 28% of the S&P 500 weighted to technology, more lousy earnings and guidance could trigger a landslide move lower.
Yields were down across the Treasury curve for the second day in a row, as investors looking for safe havens continued the buying spree that started Tuesday. The 10-year note, which last week traded at a 15-year high of 4.30%, closed Wednesday at a 4.02% yield. The inversion with the two-year note stayed in place, as it closed at a 4.42% handle.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed the day up 2.74% and 3.48%, respectively, despite the Energy Information Administration reporting a slight build in inventories. One item that energy analysts noted was that the new British Prime Minister plans to reinstate the fracking ban in England. Natural gas ended the day up over 2%. Gold and Bitcoin both surged higher, with the cryptocurrency up well over 3%.
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 Thursday, October 27, 2022.
Abbott Laboratories Inc (NYSE: ABT): Mizuho started covering the stock with a Neutral rating and a $105 target. The $117.90 consensus target is higher, but Wednesday’s closing print was $98.42.
Agilysys Inc. (NASDAQ: AGYS): Craig Hallum raised its Hold rating to Buy from and lifted the $50 target price to $65. The consensus target is $58.50. Wednesday’s close at $62.15 was up over 13% for the day, after it posted stellar earnings this week.
Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB): Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating on the biotech heavyweight and has a $300 target price. The consensus target is $282.40. The shares ended Wednesday’s session at $280.43.
Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN): Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sell and, in a bizarre move, slashed the $158 target price to $27. The consensus target is $23. The stock was last seen Wednesday at $13.61, down close to 6% on the day after a secondary offering.
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