Analyst Upgrades: Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com, Inc., and Western Digital Corp

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Alphabet Inc (GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), and Western Digital Corp (WDC)

Jul 29, 2016 at 9:39 AM

Analysts are weighing in on Google parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and tech stock Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on GOOGL, AMZN, and WDC.

GOOGL is up 3.4% at $792.24, after the company's second-quarter earnings easily beat expectations on the Street. The news was met by a flood of price-target hikes, with at least two brokerage firms setting their sights on levels at or above the $1,000 mark -- deep into record-high territory. In fact, even though Deutsche Bank lowered its price target, it remains north of the millennium mark. For today, however, it looks like the shares will be doing battle with the round $800 level, which Alphabet Inc has never before cleared on a closing basis. A round of pre-earnings call buyers should be pleased with today's price action, which could have GOOGL back in the black on a year-to-date basis for the first time since April.

AMZN hit a fresh record high of $766.00 out of the gate, last seen up 0.5% at $756.65, after the company's quarterly earnings flew past predictions. More than a dozen analysts increased their price-targets on the stock, with Deutsche Bank setting the highest target, at $985 -- a 30% premium over AMZN's current price. Unsurprisingly, options traders have already taken an optimistic view of Amazon.com, Inc., which has added more than 12% in 2016, and found a foothold above its 50-day moving average in recent months. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.95 sits lower than 86% of the past year's readings, indicating near-term traders have rarely been more call-heavy toward AMZN.

WDC received an upgrade to "outperform" at Baird, alongside five price-target hikes, after reporting better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter. The shares are down 8%, however, with Western Digital Corp last seen trading at $49.41. WDC has given up almost 18% of its value so far this year, and is testing newfound support at the round $50 mark. Still, two-thirds of analysts following the stock give it a "buy" or better rating, and short sellers have continued to back off in recent weeks. In fact, these bearish bets dropped by over 17% during the last two reporting periods.

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