Here Are Monday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Block, Boise Cascade, Equifax, FirstEnergy, Lockheed Martin, Lumentum Holdings, NetApp, Roper Technologies, Spotify, Technology, and More

Wall Street analysts are making bold moves this Monday, reshuffling their ratings on names from defense giants to fintech disruptors as markets reel from last week's losses and gold falls below a threshold not seen since July.

Futures are trading higher as we head into a new week that will finish out October, with traders trying to rally stocks after last week’s losing effort. With Halloween on Saturday, this week may be as scary as last week. All major indices closed lower again on Friday after a midday attempt to ignite a rally failed. The biggest loser Friday was the Dow Jones Industrials, which finished at 52,214, down 1.24%, while the S&P 500 closed at 7,622, down 0.52%. The Nasdaq, where traders tried to start the tech rally near noon, ultimately finished lower at 25,955, down 0.21%, while the small-cap Russell 2000 closed at 2,778, down 0.20%.

After one of the wildest weeks in the U.S. Treasury market in years, normalcy returned on Friday, and so did the sellers, as yields rose across the curve. Despite last week’s safe-haven buying, the same issues remain, chief among them inflation; with strong manufacturing output and historically low jobless claims, the path is clear for another 25-basis-point hike. It likely will not come at this week’s meetings, but it will probably come before year-end. The 30-year bond closed the session at 5.33%, while the benchmark 10-year note was last seen at 5%.

The energy complex keeps the inflation narrative alive, and it rose again Friday, as the threat of increased military activity pushed both benchmarks near 6-month highs. When the dust settled, Brent Crude closed at $116, up 3.05%, while West Texas Intermediate finished the day at $103, higher by 3.74%. Natural gas continued its surprising slide, closing lower by 6.01% to finish Friday’s trading at $2.63.

Precious metals continued their surprising slide on Friday, though they finished the day well off the lows. Instead of being the haven many investors expect, gold has been battered and closed Friday at $3,993, down 0.76%, while silver ended at $53.74, down 1.34%. Gold falling below $4,000 for the first time since July has baffled many retail investors, given weakness in other assets; top analysts say unique margin mechanics and structural shifts in interest rate expectations have driven gold’s sell-off.

When big tech and chip stocks got absolutely wrecked last week, it put heavy pressure on institutional funds. When these highly leveraged portfolios take massive losses, managers are forced to dump gold aggressively, since it’s so liquid, to scramble for cash and meet margin calls.

Crypto was mostly flat and range-bound on Friday, basically consolidating after getting slammed by the big tech sell-off earlier in the week. Total market cap just hovered right around $2.8 trillion. Bitcoin defended the $81,000 level, chopping tightly between $81,100 and $82,000 to hold its 50-day moving average, even as massive institutional whales like BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) moved hundreds of millions onto exchanges. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin was trading at $80,220, while Ethereum was quoted at $2,327.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day to identify fresh investment ideas for investors and traders alike. These daily analyst notes include recommendations on stocks to buy, sell, or avoid, as well as new coverage initiations. Important reminder: No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock.

Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from Monday, October 26, 2026.

Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad, diverse career, including a stint as creative services director at an NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry.

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