Analyst Downgrades: QUALCOMM, EZchip, and Keurig

Analysts are weighing in on chipmakers QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) and EZchip Semiconductor Ltd (NASDAQ:EZCH), as well as coffee maven Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on QCOM, EZCH, and GMCR.

• QCOM is 0.1% lower at $53.66 this morning, after Bernstein cut its price target to $60 from $68. This likely pleases the recent batch of bearish traders in the stock's options pits. By the numbers, QUALCOMM, Inc.'s 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio comes in at 0.76 -- higher than three-fourths of all readings from the past year. Said simply, put buying has been more popular than normal of late. And it's no wonder: QCOM has given back 27.8% in 2015. 


• EZCH is off 0.2% in early trading at $25.10, as the Street responds bearishly to the company's recent M&A news. Specifically, Brean Capital and Benchmark each cut the stock's rating to "hold" from "buy," though the latter raised its price target to $25.50 from $25. This downbeat feedback comes even as the stock has been strong on the charts, outperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 68 percentage points during the past three months, and hitting an annual high of $25.21 yesterday. Short interest is still elevated, though, with bears controlling more than seven days' worth of buying power, going by EZchip Semiconductor Ltd's average pace of trading. 


• GMCR has had an awful time on the charts lately, down over 60% year-to-date as of Wednesday's close. This downtrend is continuing today, with the shares 1.6% lower at $51.41, after Wedbush cut its price target to $60 from $67. Wall Street is mostly bearish on the underperformer, with 14 of 16 covering analysts saying the security is a "hold" or worse. What's more, short interest on Keurig Green Mountain Inc jumped by 16.6% during the most recent reporting period, and now accounts for 11.8% of its float. Additional losses could be in store for the shares, if analysts and traders continue to bet against them. 

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