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Buy Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Upgraded on Wednesday

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October consumer prices rose 0.4%, the third straight monthly gain of at least 0.4%, according to data reported by Reuters. Economists polled by the outlet had expected 0.3%. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% for the third month in a row against a forecast of 0.2%. Shelter accounted for more than 30% of the monthly increase.

Hot Inflation Reading Hardens Rate Hike Bets

The report changed the rate debate almost immediately. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a London speech that a 50-basis-point hike should be considered if core CPI rose 0.3% or more, and that “Hiking only 25 basis points would put our credibility at risk.” The Fed left its policy rate at 3.75%-4.00% in October and meets again on December 8-9.

Markets now fully price in at least a 25-basis-point hike in December, and CME FedWatch put the chance of a 50-basis-point move at 11.8%, up from zero a day earlier. Investors hunting for stocks with room to climb in this setting can start with 8 Best NYSE Stocks with Huge Upside Potential, one of our recent lists.

Capital Economics economist Thomas Ryan said, in comments reported by Yahoo Finance, that the strength in core prices was broad-based rather than a one-off, which should all but confirm a December hike with a rising risk of a larger one. Deutsche Bank chief economist Matt Luzzetti expects 25-basis-point hikes in December, January and March.

Yields Jump as Strategists Turn Cautious

Bond markets took the hit first. The 2-year Treasury yield jumped by the most in 19 months, and the 10-year briefly topped 5%, Bloomberg reported. Columbia Threadneedle portfolio manager Ed Al-Hussainy said the 2-year could climb back toward its end-of-September peak just shy of 5%. It closed Tuesday at 4.73%.

Stocks had slumped the week before as fears grew that new regulation could dent the AI trade after the Democrats’ sweeping election victory, then rallied on Monday as oil prices fell. On Wednesday, the Dow rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.6%, which erased the Nasdaq’s post-election losses. Analyst ratings offer another angle on a market this unsettled, and our roundup of 10 Best Affordable Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts covers it.

Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian said of the S&P 500 for 2027, “We’re not particularly bullish on the index.” She also warned that investors are already heavily invested in equities, so outflows from index funds would pose a risk.

Our Methodology

To compile this list, we reviewed analyst rating upgrades announced on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. We have ranked these stocks in ascending order of their average upside potential, as of November 10. Average upside potential is the gap between a stock’s price and its average analyst price target. We also list each stock’s number of hedge fund holders as of Q2 2026, from our database of 1,006 hedge funds.

At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with what hedge funds do. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 612% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 375 percentage points (see more details here).

Buy Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Upgraded on Wednesday

10. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Market Cap: $5.17 trillion

Average Upside Potential: -3%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 169

China Renaissance analyst Jack Zhou upgraded Apple from Hold to Buy on November 11 and set a $425 price target. His reasoning centers on growth potential from the company’s first foldable iPhone and its other businesses. The iPhone Duo, priced at $1,999, sold out after launch, and orders now stretch into January.

Apple makes the iPhone, Mac, iPad, wearables and a Services business, and the foldable arrives at a strong moment. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached a record $479 billion, and management has guided to the best holiday quarter in company history. Greater China sales rose from a year earlier, and touchscreen Macs and a new Siri round out the holiday lineup. The Duo’s first full sales will not show up until the next report, and some investors are watching Services, where growth has slowed.

Valuation is the other half of the debate, with shares near 38 times earnings and above the average analyst target, while Zhou’s price target sits well above the current share price. We looked at how well-known investors weigh that tradeoff in Billionaire Ken Fisher and Jim Cramer Still Like Apple (AAPL). Should You?

9. Unilever (NYSE:UL)

Market Cap: $141.71 billion

Average Upside Potential: 0%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38

Deutsche Bank analyst Tom Sykes upgraded Unilever from Hold to Buy on November 11 and lifted his London price target to 5,350 pence. He sees longer-term transformation potential, confidence in near-term earnings, and a liquidity benefit that lets the stock hedge AI risk inside a balanced portfolio. Sykes still sees structural and cyclical pressure across the staples group.

His forecast is for like-for-like growth of 4.6% in home and personal care next fiscal year, with a small gain in margin. The maker of Dove, Hellmann’s and Vaseline is also reshaping itself. McCormick agreed to combine with Unilever’s food business in a $44.8 billion deal expected to close next year, and the UK competition regulator is reviewing it.

Third-quarter underlying sales rose 5.2%, led by emerging markets, with India and Brazil strong, while the food business was roughly flat and home care grew fastest. The quarterly dividend rose from a year earlier. Management raised its volume outlook for the year. Whether that pruning unlocks growth is a question we explored in Unilever (UL) is Pruning Its Portfolio. Could That Unlock Growth?

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