The futures traded higher Friday, after the market was initially pulverized Thursday following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While President Vladimir Putin maintained that Russia wants to \u201cdemilitarize\u201d and not occupy the country, he also used some powerful rhetoric by saying that external interference by the West would lead to consequences never before experienced. The danger for investors is uncertainty over what the ultimate goals the Russian President has, and uncertainty is the kryptonite Wall Street fears the most.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon though, the stock market made one of the most incredible comebacks witnessed in years. The major equity indexes that were shredded for much of the day roared back into positive territory. The Nasdaq, which was down 3.5% at one point, closed up well over 2%, and the S&P 500 was up close to 1.5%. The Dow Jones industrials, which at one point early in the trading day looked poised to be down 1,000 points also closed positive.<\/p>\n
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both closed up, but well off the highs posted earlier Thursday that saw Brent over $100 per barrel and WTI looking like it would get to $100. The flight to safety in the Treasury markets subsided, with selling even coming in at the long end.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, February 25, 2022.<\/p>\n
Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ: BAND): Citigroup reiterated a Neutral rating on the stock but boosted the target price to $57 from $44. JMP Securities kept it at Market Outperform but lowered the price target to $100 from $206. Piper Sandler stayed with an Overweight rating but slashed the $102 target price to $51. The consensus target is $121.17 for the time being. The stock closed Thursday at $31.56, down a massive 32% despite posting solid numbers, as the forward guidance was well short of expectations.<\/p>\n
Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC): D.A. Davidson upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and bumped up the target price higher to $82 from $80. The consensus target is $76.80. The stock closed on Thursday at $73.78, up a whopping 14% for the day.<\/p>\n
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG): Gordon Haskett lifted its Hold rating to Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $2,053.57 to $2,715.66 and have a $2,714.11 consensus target. The stock closed on Thursday at $2,295.<\/p>\n
Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH): J.P. Morgan upgraded the satellite entertainment stock to Overweight from Underweight but trimmed the $42 price objective to $40. The consensus target is $46.94. The stock closed on Thursday at $29.46, up close to 7% on the day.\n\t\t<\/p>\n