Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Gets a Strong Buy Rating + Today's Top Watches

The markets had a severe case of the Mondays yesterday. Below, we've got a review of the hottest market movers and three Strong Buy stocks from Wall Street's brightest and best...

Hot or Not: Stock Market Edition (10/8/2024)

🔥 HOT: Shares of Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL) continued to rise on Monday after the company obtained a mining permit from the government of Ghana last week. PLL gained 16.8% on Monday, bringing its four-day total gain to 56.1%. Even after this mini rally, the stock remains down 50.6% YTD.

🥶 NOT: Heritage Insurance Holdings (NYSE: HRTG) lost 23.4% as hurricane Milton looms in the Gulf of Mexico. Heritage isn’t the only insurance company with share prices dropping due to hurricane season. Universal Insurance Holdings (NYSE: UVE) and American Coastal Insurance (NASDAQ: ACIC) lost 19.5% and 15.3%, respectively. UVE is now sitting at a gain of just 5.3% YTD after being up as much as 35% as of the start of last week.

🔥 HOT: Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) gained 5.1% on Monday after Barclays upgraded the database storage company to overweight and adjusted its price target to $19 per share. BASE closed Monday at $15.40 per share, so Barclays’ new target represents more than a 20% upside. Despite a strong start to the year, BASE now sits down 30.8% YTD. Barclays analysts say that Couchbase’s new Capella service is cause for optimism among investors and could spark considerable growth.

🥶 NOT: Sleep Number Corporation’s (NASDAQ: SNBR) stock fell by 9.0% on Monday as the market tried to decide what it expects from the company’s upcoming earnings report. Last week, unusual options activity suggested that some traders are expecting a disappointing report when Sleep Number releases its latest earnings and revenue numbers on October 18th. Right now, SNBR has gained 13.4% YTD and is trading in a choppy range.

📈 Want more? Check out the biggest winners and biggest losers on WSZ. 

Strong Buys: Top Picks from Top Wall Street Analysts 

Smarter investment ideas, delivered. With WallStreetZen's Top Analysts, you get high-conviction stock ratings from the best stock analysts in the world. It’s a premium feature on our site, but we’ve unlocked a FREE sampling below: 

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) 

Analyst/Firm: Alexander Blostein / Goldman Sachs

Analyst ranking: Top 7% / average return +11.46% / win rate 68% 

Yesterday’s market close: $159.54

Price target: $185.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, Goldman Sachs's Alexander Blostein raised their price target on Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) by 8.2% from $171 to $185 on 10/3. 
• The price target hike was catalyzed by a deep dive into their Financial sector coverage area. The analyst predicted that most capital market stocks would fall post-Q3 2024 reports on lower interest rates and "sluggish" deal recovery. 
• However, higher interest rates have "propelled the risk-on behavior" across many capital market stocks, Blostein told investors.
• Conversely, the analyst said that deal activity rates are still slow, which is a problem for many alternative asset managers who deal with "very stretched" valuation multiples.
• Blostein continued by noting that organic growth slowed down in Q3 for most traditional managers, and lower interest rates pose a "meaningful risk" to earnings for most brokers and wealth managers. The analyst said that Goldman Sachs believes exchanges and trust banks were "relative bright spots" in Q3.
• See more price targets for ICE here.

1-year chart for ICE, courtesy TradingView

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) 

⭐ Significant price target increase

Analyst/Firm: Robert Kad / Morgan Stanley

Analyst ranking: Top 8% / average return +18.44% / win rate 79% 

Yesterday’s market close: $49.68

Price target: $58.00 

• Morgan Stanley's Robert Kad upgraded their rating on Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) from Hold to Strong Buy on 10/4 and raised their price target by 11.5% from $52 to $58.
• Kad believes that Williams Companies has "several areas of underappreciated growth opportunity" that could lead to a further re-rating of the shares and reduce the risk of not achieving 5% to 7% annual EBITDA growth. 
• The analyst expects midstream investors to pay closer attention to areas with the most apparent and robust development.
• Kad added that Williams Companies' natural gas pipeline assets are becoming increasingly important for maintaining grid stability and satisfying increased natural gas demand.
• See why WMB has a Buy consensus among 11 analysts.

1-year chart for WMB, courtesy TradingView

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) 

Analyst/Firm: Matthew Boss / JP Morgan

Analyst ranking: Top 14% / average return +3.39% / win rate 57% 

Yesterday’s market close: $139.04

Price target: $195.00 

• Maintaining a Strong Buy rating, JP Morgan's Matthew Boss raised their price target on Abercrombie & Fitch Co (NYSE: ANF) by 0.5% from $194 to $195 on 10/4. 
• In addition to raising their price target, Boss also issued a "Positive Catalyst Watch" on Abercrombie & Fitch Co stock.
• The analyst highlighted that the Hollister brand's momentum grew in Q3 2024 thanks to more positive promotional activity and new customer adds.
• See why analysts believe ANF has 50% upside potential in the coming year.

1-year chart for ANF, courtesy TradingView

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