Analyst Upgrades: Amazon.com, Inc., LinkedIn Corp, and Pandora Media Inc

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), LinkedIn Corp (LNKD), and Pandora Media Inc (P)

Apr 29, 2016 at 9:18 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on e-commerce titan Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), social media stock LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), and streaming music concern Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AMZN, LNKD, and P.

AMZN is set to surge 12% at the open after the company's first-quarter earnings smashed analyst estimates. At last count, no fewer than 19 brokerage firms had already increased their price targets on Amazon.com, Inc., with J. P. Morgan Securities setting the highest target, at a jaw-dropping $915 -- a 31% premium to the stock's record high of $696.44, seen in late December. AMZN settled at $602.00 on Thursday, and has been enjoying support from its rising 160-day moving average over the past month. And in the options pits, recent call buyers may be cheering, as today's jump could also be enough to put AMZN back into positive year-to-date territory.

LNKD surprised analysts with its strong quarterly earnings and profit guidance, sending the shares up 7.4% in pre-market trading. In response, at least seven brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, to a range between $140 and $180, while J.P. Morgan Securities broke from the pack, cutting its target to $150 from $186. LinkedIn Corp closed at $123.01 Thursday, off 45% in 2016, due in large part to a huge February post-earnings bear gap. Analysts have since been wary of the equity, but options traders have lately been betting on a rebound. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), LNKD's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.47 sits higher than 90% of all readings taken in the past year.

P is pointed 12% higher ahead of the bell, thanks to better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, upwardly revised full-year guidance, and price-target hikes from Canaccord Genuity, Nomura, Cowen and Company, Mizuho Securities, and Susquehanna. The new targets, ranging from $11 to $14, represent a healthy premium to Pandora Media Inc's Thursday finish of $9.44. Given the pre-market gains, the shares appear set to topple resistance at their 80-day moving average -- a level they've topped just once on a closing basis since a late-October bear gap. A recent crop of short sellers could be sweating as the equity threatens to move higher, while more analysts could potentially raise their outlooks. At the moment, 16 of 26 brokerage firms rate P just a "hold."

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