Friday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Airbnb, CrowdStrike, Meta Platforms, Nasdaq, Splunk, Target, US Steel, Zscaler\u00a0and More

The futures traded lower after the September nonfarm payrolls number came in above expectations. The major indexes all closed lower Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrials posting the largest decline, over 1.15%. The song remains the same, as sellers have been nipping away at the 5.5% rally gains that were posted over the first two days of the week.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Governor Raphael Bostic tossed some cold water earlier in the week on the Fed pivot hopes across Wall Street, after he noted he favors the plan to move the federal funds rate to 4.0% to 4.5% by year-end. That indicates yet another 75-basis-point increase in November, followed by 50 basis points at the last meeting of the year in December.

Interest rates were up across the Treasury curve Thursday, once again led by the five-year note, which closed at 4.06%. The inversion remained in place, as the 10-year note closed at 3.77% and the two-year paper at a 4.25% yield. Bond market pros view the continued inversion between the two securities as a sign of the current recession.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude both ended higher Thursday, after a big week in which the price of oil climbed over 10%. The massive OPEC production cut starting in November was the big sector-moving news. Natural gas closed lower, back below the $7 level. Gold and Bitcoin also both closed lower, with the cryptocurrency leader trading back right to $20,000 level.

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, October 7, 2022.

Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB): Zacks named this as its Bull of the Day stock, with the analyst pondering whether the company can capitalize on rising interest rates and high real estate prices. The shares last closed at $111.58, and hitting the consensus target price of $140.50 would be a gain of about 26%.

Bally’s Corp. (NASDAQ: BALY): Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $23 target price. The consensus target for the resort and casino heavyweight is $28.25. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $21.44, which was down almost 5% on the day.

Cactus Inc. (NYSE: WHD): Barclays downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered the $52 price target to $48. The consensus target is $51.78. The last trade on Thursday was posted at $44.00.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating but lowered its $23 price target to $19. The consensus target is $21.49. The shares ended Thursday’s trading session at $14.97, down close to 3% for the day.

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