Wednesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Express, Analog Devices, Boeing, Chevron, Comcast, CSX, Etsy, Prudential Financial and More

The futures were trading down on Wednesday, after all the major indexes finished the day lower on Tuesday. Many on Wall Street feel that the recent rally, which was the second big move higher since the October lows, is running out of steam, and possibly fast. Wall Street is keeping a close eye on trading levels as more layoffs have been announced, this time at fast-food giant McDonald’s, the spike in oil will fan the still smoldering inflation flames, stock buyback windows have been closed, factory orders have slowed, lending is starting to tighten and people continue to fear more financial sector problems.

One positive for equities that did not translate through Tuesday was that yields across the Treasury curve were much lower, with the benchmark 10-year note closing at 3.34%. The buyers were all over the shorter maturities, with the two-year yield down a whopping 16 basis points on the day to close at 3.82%. Many investors are likely getting the sense that the safe-haven bomb shelter of government securities is the reason behind the buying, and that in of itself is very worrisome.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude were modestly higher, while taking a breather from the big 6% run after the OPEC announcement earlier this week about production cuts. This move, combined with last week’s big 9% rally, likely tempted some profit takers, but any dip had buyers grabbing more shares of top energy stocks. Natural gas finished the day at $2.09.

Gold had a big move higher, closing up 1.8% at $2020. A big acquisition deal has been in the spotlight this week as Pan American Silver completed its takeover of Yamana Gold. The deal adds four producing mines to Pan American’s operations and holdings. Bitcoin also had a big day, up 1.7% to close at $28,288.

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 Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP): Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating while trimming its $182 target price to $180. The consensus target is $187.05. The stock closed on Tuesday at $162.56.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI): BofA Securities reiterated a Buy rating and raised its $230 target price to $250. The consensus target is $216.81. The shares closed on Tuesday at $195.12.

Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: AESI): Capital One started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $25 target price. A consensus target has not been set yet. The shares closed on Tuesday at $17.22.

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