Analyst Upgrades: Aduro BioTech, Amazon, and Splunk

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Aduro BioTech Inc (ADRO), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), and Splunk Inc (SPLK)

Apr 20, 2015 at 9:24 AM

Analysts are weighing in today on immunotherapy expert Aduro BioTech Inc (NASDAQ:ADRO), e-commerce concern Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and software specialist Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:SPLK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ADRO, AMZN, and SPLK.

ADRO is up nearly 10% in electronic trading, after Roth initiated coverage on the Wall Street newcomer with a "buy" rating and a $74 price target. Aduro BioTech Inc -- which priced its IPO at $17 last Tuesday -- began trading at $32 on Wednesday, topped out at a record high of $49.25 on Thursday, and settled the week squarely at $40.

Ahead of Thursday evening's first-quarter earnings report, AMZN saw its price target lifted to $395 from $330 at Wedbush -- representing expected upside of 5.2% to Friday's close at $375.56, and territory not charted by the security since January 2014. The stock has done well on the charts in 2015, though -- up 21% -- thanks in large part to a late-January earnings-induced surge. Against this backdrop, both analysts and option traders have been waving the bullish flag. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Amazon.com, Inc.'s 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.57 ranks in the 91st annual percentile.

SPLK is flirting with a 2% lead ahead of the bell, following an upbeat "buy" initiation and $81 price target at Citigroup. For a stock that settled Friday at $62.41 -- roughly 6% above its year-to-date breakeven mark -- this target price represents an expected trek to levels not seen since March 2014. On the sentiment front, most analysts have thrown their support behind the shares; specifically, 18 out of 22 maintain a "buy" or better rating, and not a single "sell" to be found. Elsewhere, speculators have shown a preference for calls over puts among options expiring in three months or less, per Splunk Inc's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.74, which rests lower than 74% of similar readings taken in the past year.

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