Analyst Downgrades: Twitter, Micron, and Western Digital

Analysts are weighing in on social media maven Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), chipmaker Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), and data storage company Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on TWTR, MU, and WDC.

• Morgan Stanley laid the wood to TWTR, cutting its rating to "underweight" from "equal weight" and its price target to $24 from $36 -- citing limited growth and waning user engagement. As such, the stock is pointed 5% lower ahead of the open, and poised to add to its 39% year-over-year loss, closing Tuesday at $30.91. In recent weeks, option traders have grown extremely bullish toward Twitter Inc, per data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Specifically, the equity's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.51 ranks above 92% of comparable readings from the previous 12 months. An unwinding of these bullish bets -- especially if the company comes up short in the earnings confessional next Tuesday night -- could have bearish implications for TWTR.

• MU has lost more than half its value this year, settling yesterday at $17.09 -- and pulling back from recent M&A-induced momentum. Further losses appear to be in store, with the stock down 2.1% pre-market after seeing its rating lowered to "underperform" at BofA-Merrill Lynch, and to "hold" at Needham. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, as far as Micron Technology, Inc. downgrades go. Despite the equity's chronic struggles, 17 of 26 analysts have doled out "buy" or better recommendations. Plus, MU's average 12-month price target of $22.27 stands at a lofty 30% premium to Tuesday's close.

• WDC is making headlines this morning after reporting roughly in-line earnings and agreeing to buy sector peer SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) for $19 billion, confirming recent speculation. The deal represents just the latest example of consolidation in the tech space. However, not everyone is responding positively to the developments, with Jefferies trimming its price target on Western Digital Corp to $111 from $116 -- sending the stock 2.5% lower ahead of the bell. Longer term, the equity has surrendered almost one-third of its value in 2015, at $74.86. Meanwhile, at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, bullish betting has been transpiring at a near-extreme clip, per WDC's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.23 -- in the 98th percentile of its annual range.