Analyst Update: Amazon, Bitauto Hldg, bluebird bio

Analysts adjusted their ratings and price targets on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (BITA), and bluebird bio Inc (BLUE)

Feb 22, 2016 at 3:00 PM

Analysts are weighing in on Internet retail titan Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Beijing-based online car resource Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:BITA), and biotech stock bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on AMZN, BITA, and BLUE.

AMZN is shaking off bearish brokerage notes -- Goldman Sachs and Evercore ISI cut their price targets on the stock to $720 and $700, respectively -- to trade 4.4% higher at $558.45. Both of these reduced targets are still north of the $696.44 record high Amazon.com, Inc. shares touched in late December. Thanks to today's pop, AMZN is on track to close above its 200-day moving average for the first time since Feb. 2. Meanwhile, short sellers have seized on the stock's 2016 pullback, with short interest on AMZN jumping more than 23% in the past two reporting periods.

CLSA raised its rating on BITA to "buy" from "underperform," sending the shares surging 9.4% to $21.67. Bitauto Hldg Ltd (ADR) has shed more than 23% of its value year-to-date, and hit a two-year low of $16.09 earlier this month. Options traders have been betting on BITA to bounce back for a while now, as the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 9.46 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) arrives in the bullishly skewed 99th percentile of its annual range.

BLUE is up 3.3% at $53.74, despite a price-target cut to $149 from $165 at Goldman Sachs. Most analysts remain upbeat on bluebird bio Inc, though, with 11 out of 14 rating the stock a "strong buy." The company is preparing to report fourth-quarter earnings this week, and -- with BLUE down nearly 73% from last May's record high of $197.35 -- shares of the biotech stock could use a boost. But traders are solidly bearish ahead of the report, with 14.4% of BLUE's float sold short, and the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.85 registering in the put-heavy 95th annual percentile.

For other stocks in analysts' crosshairs, read Analyst Upgrades: Groupon Inc, Cree, Inc., and Century Aluminum Co and Analyst Downgrades: TripAdvisor, Inc., Chimerix Inc, and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

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