Pre-Market Stock Futures:
Futures are trading higher after a wild Wednesday that saw the market rally hard on the open on the non-farm payrolls print that blew away estimates, despite a significant decline in government jobs. However, the “buy the rumor, sell the news” cliche came in fast and strong, quickly turning the rally into a big sell-off. While stocks rallied off late-morning lows, all major indices ended the day just modestly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 50,121, down 0.13%, while the S&P 500 was last seen at 6,941, essentially unchanged. The Nasdaq’s last print was recorded at 23,066, down 0.18%. The small-cap Russell 2000 finished Wednesday trading at 2,669, down 0.38%. After today’s volatility on the jobs numbers, you can bet traders will be anxiously awaiting the consumer price index report tomorrow morning.
Treasury Bonds:
Yields were higher across the entire Treasury curve except the very short T-bills. Needless to say, the huge beat on the jobs number tells the bond market straight up, that is, no rate cuts are coming in 2026, until the summer, if then. The 30-year bond closed at 4.81%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last at 4.17%.
Oil and Gas:
The price of oil continued to rise as concerns about a confrontation with Iran have overshadowed the mounting inventory glut. Brent Crude closed the session at $69.74, up 1.37%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $64.98, up 1.59%. Natural gas joined the energy rally, closing at $3.20, up 2.83%.
Gold:
Gold had another solid day on Wednesday, closing up 1.09% at $5,077. While Wall Street is almost uniformly bullish on gold, some warn that the speculative fervor that has gripped the sector for almost two years could trigger another flash crash like the one we experienced recently. Silver finished the day at $83.93, up 4%.
Crypto:
The Crypto markets saw a sharp downturn on Wednesday, with major assets falling as a prior rebound faded, and investor interest has been waning dramatically. Bitcoin fell below $66,000 during trading on Wednesday, continuing a downward trajectory from its October 2025 highs, a decline of 46% in less than four months. At 8 AM EST, Bitcoin was trading at $67,930, while Ethereum was quoted at $1,984.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports daily to identify new investment ideas for both investors and traders. 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.
Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen on Thursday, February 12, 2026.
Upgrades:
- Borg Warner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank with an $82 target price for the car parts giant.
- HII (NYSE: HII) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Bank of America, which lifted the target price for the shares to $400 from $300.
- MercasdoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which boosted the target price to $2,800 from $2,650.
- Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which lowered the price on the stock to $48 from $67.
- Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP) | SHOP Price Prediction was upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Cowen, with a $159 target price.
Downgrades:
- BP Plc. (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold at HSBC, which trimmed the target price for the integrated European giant to $35.10 from $38.10.
- Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim with a $200 price target.
- Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which lowered the target price for the stock to $22 from $24.
- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Daiwa with a $27 target price.
- Valvoline Inc. (NYSE: VVV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which actually lifted the target price for the shares to $35 from $30.
Initiations:
- Bicara Inc. (NASDAQ: BCAX) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs with a $14 price target.
- Fennec PharmaceuticalsInc. (NASDAQ: FENC) was started with a Buy rating at B. Riley with a $16 target price.
- Immunome Inc. (NASDAQ: IMNM) was initiated with a Buy rating at H.C. Wainwright, with a $40 target price.
- Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ: SEZL) was initiated with a Buy rating at Needham, and has an $85 target price for the stock.
- USA Today Co. Inc. (NYSE: TDAY) was initiated with a Buy rating at Rosenblatt. with a $10 target price.
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