The futures traded higher Friday, as we get set to wrap up a horrible week for the equity markets. All the major indexes closed lower once again, and the song remains the same: continued red-hot inflation, profit margins being squeezed by rising input costs and the knowledge that the Federal Reserve will be raising interest rates in June and July by 50 basis points. Both Cisco and Target reported terrible results this week, and forward guidance was dreadful too. Toss in the fact that COVID-19 cases are rising in some areas of the country, and the negative base case stays intact. For now, the path of least resistance looks to be lower.<\/p>\n
Treasury yields were lower again across the curve, as recession-worried investors continue to head to the safety of government securities. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note has dropped a stunning 32 basis points in 10 days.<\/p>\n
Another negative for beleaguered consumers across the United States is that oil prices headed up again Thursday, with both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude closing modestly higher, while natural gas closed lower but stayed above the $8 mark. Gold had a strong day, up close to 2%, while Bitcoin traded up almost 5% after a week in which cryptocurrencies were hammered.<\/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, May 20, 2022.<\/p>\n
Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM): Baird maintained a Neutral rating on the shares and has a $102 price target. The consensus target is up at $125.53. Thursday\u2019s closing share price was $98.48.<\/p>\n
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): BofA Securities lowered its $215 price target on the legacy technology giant to $200 while maintaining a Buy rating. The consensus target is $190.20. Thursday\u2019s closer was at $137.35 a share.\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\nBally\u2019s Corp. (NYSE: BALY): Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a $49 price objective. The consensus target is $43.43. The stock closed on Thursday at $25.14.<\/p>\n
Bath & Bodyworks Inc. (NYSE: BBWI): Baird maintained an Outperform rating but lowered the $75 price objective to $65. The shares have traded as high as $82.00 in the past year, but they were last seen at $40.03.<\/p>\n
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