Analyst Downgrades: Tesla Motors Inc, Yelp Inc, and Wynn Resorts, Limited

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN)

Karee Venema

Jul 20, 2016 at 9:59 AM

Analysts are weighing in on electric car concern Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), online review platform Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and casino stock Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on TSLA, YELP, and WYNN.

J.P. Morgan Securities lowered its price target on TSLA to $180 from $185, representing a 20% discount to last night's close at $225.26 and territory not charted since late February. Nevertheless, the stock appears to be benefiting from broad-market tailwinds, up 0.7% at $226.88. Longer term, TSLA is off 16% from its early April year-to-date high of $269.34, although the shares recently filled their late-June M&A induced bear gap. On the sentiment front, short sellers have been quick to bet against Tesla Motors Inc. Short interest jumped 8% in the most recent reporting period, and now accounts for 29.5% of the security's available float -- or 4.3 times the average daily pace of trading.

*Updated: Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his "master plan" for the company will be released at 5:00 p.m. PDT today.

YELP has bounced back from earlier losses, last seen up 0.1% to trade at $29.21, as a downgrade to "neutral" from "buy" at Citigroup takes a back seat to the brokerage firm's price-target hike to $31 from $27. This is just the latest in a string of mixed analyst notes the stock has received in recent weeks, although more than 70% of those covering the shares maintain a "hold" or worse recommendation. In the options pits, meanwhile, traders have been initiating long calls relative to puts at a rapid-fire rate. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Yelp Inc's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 5.43 ranks in the 84th annual percentile. On the charts, YELP stock has nearly doubled since bottoming at a three-year low of $14.53 in mid-February.

UBS followed in the recent footsteps of J.P. Morgan Securities, lowering its rating on WYNN to "neutral" from "buy," with the brokerage firm citing a "less favorable risk/return" backdrop with the stock at "these higher levels. In fact, while the shares are down 1.7% to trade at $93.54 this morning, they remain up 35% year-to-date. In the options pits, speculative players have shown a distinct preference for calls over puts. Not only does WYNN's top-heavy 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.62 at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX sit just 5 percentage points from a 52-week peak, but its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.58 ranks lower than 96% of comparable readings taken in the past year. In other words, short-term speculators have rarely been as call-heavy toward Wynn Resorts, Limited as they are now.

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