Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Block, Cisco, Hertz, Nvidia, Phillips 66, Splunk, Target, Walmart and More

The futures were trading higher as we get set to end a very turbulent week. All the major indexes closed lower on Thursday, after some mixed economic data and more hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials. While the end of the 75-basis-point rate hikes appears to be at hand, the “higher-for-longer” narrative seems firmly in place. The futures market is betting on a 50-basis-point hike in December, and it is likely that we could see two of three more increases in the first quarter of 2023.

Treasury yields were higher across the board, as sellers returned on Thursday. Despite the pullback, the 10-year note and 30-year bond yields are still below 4%. The inversion between the two-year and 10-year remained in place and has widened to the widest level in four decades. The 10-year note closed at 3.78%, while shorter paper ended the day at 4.45%.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closed lower on the day, with analysts citing a de-escalation of geopolitical tensions after NATO confirmed that Russia did not fire the missile that struck Poland. It was reported Thursday that world oil demand topped pre-Covid levels in September. Natural gas ended the day almost 3% higher, while gold closed the day lower and Bitcoin modestly higher.

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, November 18, 2022.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP): Goldman Sachs maintained a Buy rating but lowered the target price to $197 from $230. The consensus target is $188.67. The stock closed on Thursday at $148.31, down 5% on the day following disappointing results.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $210 price objective The consensus target is lower at $187.80. The stock closed on Thursday at $161.47. The company reports earnings next Tuesday.

Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with an $85 target price. The consensus target is $89.23. The shares closed on Thursday at $67.99.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and has a $78 target price. The $45.57 consensus target is much closer to Thursday’s closing price of $41.32 per share.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating with a $50 target price. The consensus target is higher at $54.82. Thursday’s $46.59 close was up almost 5% for the day after the company posted better than expected fiscal first-quarter results.

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