The futures are trading lower Tuesday after Monday’s follow-through move faded in the afternoon and all of the major indices closed down. All of this as we begin August trading after July’s 9% move higher, which basically wiped out the 8% loss in June. Typically after a steep sell-off like we have seen this year, when the market retraces off the low print by 50% and holds, the bottom has been put in. The 50% retracement level for this bear market would be 4231 on the S&P 500. That’s a level that traders across Wall Street will be watching closely.
The big datapoint for this week, along with another deluge of earnings reports, will be the July non-farm payroll report on Friday. The forecast is for 250,000 jobs to be added after last month’s gain of 384,000. In anticipation, yields across the Treasury curve were lower among all of the longer maturities Monday after a surge of buying last week pushed the 10-year note to the lowest level since April. The two-year and 10-year inversion stayed in place with the short note closing at 2.90% and the 10 year at 2.61%.
Both Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate oil closed lower on Monday, with Brent back below $100 level and WTI down 5% to close at $93.88. Natural gas continued its march higher after starting lower on the day closing at the $8.24 level. Gold closed slightly higher, while Bitcoin ended the day down 1.2% just over the $23,000 level.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day with a goal of finding new 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 across Wall Street on Tuesday Aug. 2, 2022.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating on the technology giant and have a $175 price target. The consensus target across Wall Street for the shares is $169.37. The final trade on Monday hit the tape at $135.39.
Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) Citigroup downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target objective to $118 from $143. That compares with the Wall Street consensus target of $153.18 and Monday’s final print of $113.86.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating on the energy giant and has a $172 target. The consensus is $175.70. The stock was last seen Monday at $160.51 down 2%.
Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) Wells Fargo upgraded the consumer staples giant to Equal Weight from Underweight while boosting its target to $80 from $71. The consensus is set at $81. The final trade on Monday was filled at $81.10 up 3%.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Barclays downgraded the media and cable giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and trimmed the target price to $42 from $48. The consensus is set much higher at $51.48. The shares were last seen Monday at $37.51 after posting very disappointing second quarter results last week.
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE: CFR) Wedbush upgraded the regional banking company to Neutral from Underperform and bumped its target price to $141 from $139. The consensus target is posted at $136.50. The last trade for Monday was reported at $131.04.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NYSE: DECK) The Jefferies analyst downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and cut its price target to $300 from $350. The consensus target for the popular clothing and boot retailer is set at $385.21. The stock closed Monday at $314.01 after last week’s solid earnings report that crushed analysts estimates.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) Citigroup downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and have a $102 price target objective, The consensus for the stock is set at $116.95. The stock was last seen Monday at $94.06.
Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) Wolfe Research raised the shares to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $96 price objective. The consensus target is set at $92.65. The stock was last seen on Monday at $89.21.
First Bancorp (NASDAQ: FBNC) D.A. Davidson downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy while trimming the price target to $42 from $43. The consensus for the bank is $47. The stock closed Monday at $36.97 down close to 3%.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) BofA Securities upgraded the shares to Neutral from Underperform and raised its target price on the shares in a big way to $104.50 from $63. The consensus target is posted at $85. The stock closed Monday at $99.49.
HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) Sidoti downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy with a $38 target. The consensus for the stock is set at a much higher $53.67. The stock closed Monday at $34.95.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE: LH) Baird maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and bumped its price target on the shares to $297 from $295. The consensus is slightly higher at $307.25. Monday’s final trade was reported at $257.94.
LCI Industries, Inc. (NYSE: LCII) D.A. Davidson downgraded the company to Neutral from Buy and has a $131 target. The consensus for the stock is posted at $149.11. The shares closed Monday at $128.31 down over 5%.
LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE: LTC) Berenberg upgraded the shares to Buy from Hold and raised its price objective to $47 from $34. The consensus target is posted at $37.78. The stock closed Monday at $43.21.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) Vertical Research downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy and has a $96 price target on the chemical giant. That is versus the $106.43 consensus target and Monday’s closing print of $86.95.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on the social media heavyweight and has a $255 price-target objective. The consensus for the stock is $246.56. Monday’s last trade was reported at $159.93.
Plains All-American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) Seaport Research Partners raised the stock to Buy from Neutral with a $13 target price. The consensus is $13.74. The stock closed Monday at $10.97.
Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) BofA Securities downgraded the utility to Neutral from Buy with a $52 price target objective. The consensus on Wall Street is set at $52.90. The last trade on Monday was recorded at $52.15.
Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) Cowen downgraded the stock to Market Perform from Outperform and its target price to $30 from $40 after the company agreed last week to be acquired by JetBlue. The consensus target is $30.67. The stock closed Monday at $24.52 down over 1%. The JetBlue bid is an all-cash $33.50 offer.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Baird maintained a Neutral rating on the ubiquitous coffee retailer and has a $83 price target. The consensus is set higher at $94.21. The last trade Monday was filled at $84.91.
Victoria’s Secret & Co. (NYSE: VSCO) Cowen started coverage on the stock with a Market perform rating to go with a $40 price target. The consensus is set higher at $50.40. The shares closed Monday at $36.61.
Weber Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBR) UBS downgraded the popular grill maker to Sell from Neutral and lowered its target to $4 from $8 The consensus is set at $5.83. The shares were hammered last week after the CEO left the company and sales have slumped.
Here are Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades.
They included Carlyle Group, Deckers Outdoors, Edwards Lifesciences, Meta Platforms, Qualcomm, Spirit Airlines, Wingstop and more.
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