Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades Downgrades: Analog Devices, Bath & Body Works, Cisco, Exxon, Marvell, Nvidia, Snowflake, Target, TJX, Zoom Video and More

The futures were lower as we arrive at the end of a back-and-forth trading week on Wall Street. The major indexes closed modestly higher Thursday, after a brutal risk-off Wednesday that was the worst day for the markets since July 26. Some across Wall Street indicated that the Federal Open Market Committee minutes that were released Wednesday were somewhat more dovish than expected, but the bottom line is the Federal Reserve wants to get rates to neutral and there is some distance to that point.

Interest rates were slightly lower across the board Thursday, as buyers returned once again. Continuing strength in the safe-haven Treasury securities generally suggests that many are fearing a recession, and the two-year and 10-year inversion backs up that concern. The two-year closed at 3.21%, while the 10-year was last seen at 2.88%.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both moved higher Thursday, each closing up close to 3%. Natural gas, which has had a strong move higher recently, was flat on the day. We commented earlier this week that big energy dividend stocks were cheap, and they still look very favorable.

Gold was slightly lower on Thursday and continued the very poor trend off the highs posted back in February. Bitcoin posted modest gains Thursday, as it tries to regain some of its former positive momentum.

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, August 19, 2022.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI): Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the chip giant and has a $220 target price. The consensus target is $195.00. The stock closed on Thursday at $170.13.

Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Baird kept an Outperform rating and lifted its target price to $48. The stock has traded as high as $82.00 in the past year but closed most recently at $40.26.

Celestica Inc. (NYSE: CLS): Argus lifted its Hold rating to Buy with a $14 target price. The consensus target is $10.36. The stock closed almost 3% higher on Thursday at $11.63.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ CSCO): Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on the legacy tech giant and lifted its $52 target to $54. Citigroup reiterated a Sell rating moved its $40 target price to $44, while UBS kept a Neutral rating and the $46 target price rose to $48. The consensus target is $53.58. Stellar quarterly results boosted the share price almost 6% on Thursday to $49.37.

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