Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Apache (APA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel with analyst Michael Scialla saying the discovery of oil in offshore Suriname and condensate in two main intervals confirms two of seven play types the company expects to test on its 1.4 million-acre Block 58. 2. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho with analyst Paul Sankey saying he believes the "worst is behind the company" and sees an "increasing line of sight" for sustainable dividend growth in 2022 and beyond. 3. PPL Corp. (PPL) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim. 4. CommScope (COMM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA with analyst Tal Liani saying he sees the risk/reward skewed to the upside. 5. Ciena (CIEN) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley with analyst Meta Marshall saying she sees the company having multiple levers it can pull to achieve 20% earnings growth. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Piper Sandler raised the firm's price target on APA Corp. to $35 from $33 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares as part of a Q1 preview for the exploration and production group. Energy has been hot, almost too hot, as $90 crude potentially cools the pace of consolidation and investors looking for ways to play the data center and power demand theme turn to gas equities, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adjusted oil and gas price assumptions, expecting crude pricing to remain strong through Q3 and gas pricing pressure to persist through the balance of fiscal 2024.