Analyst Upgrades: Sarepta Therapeutics Inc, Cirrus Logic, Inc., and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS), and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)

Karee Venema

Sep 20, 2016 at 9:25 AM

Analysts are weighing in on biotech Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), integrated circuit specialist Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS), and semiconductor stock Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SRPT, CRUS, and AMD.

After surging 74% yesterday to close at $48.94 -- its loftiest settlement since October 2013 -- shares of SRPT are up 6.7% in pre-market trading. While a hard-earned regulatory win for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug, eteplirsen, boosted the shares on Monday, today's price action comes courtesy of a round of upbeat analyst notes. Specifically, Cowen and Company raised its rating on SRPT stock to "outperform" from "market perform," while SunTrust Robinson and Wedbush both upped their price targets. Should the shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc add to their 27% year-to-date advance, more bullish brokerage attention could come down the pike. Currently, the majority of analysts covering SRPT maintain a "hold" or worse recommendation.

Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on CRUS to $65 from $56 -- representing expected upside of 17.5% to last night's close at $55.32, and a trek into uncharted territory. This bullish bias isn't surprising, though, considering CRUS stock has surged 91% year-over-year -- hitting a 20-year high of $56.10 yesterday -- and is up another 1.3% ahead of the bell. Options traders have been switching sides in recent weeks, too. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), CRUS' 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.56 ranks in the elevated 76th annual percentile.

Separately, following a string of recent shake-ups, CRUS will replace Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NASDAQ:FCS) on the S&P MidCap 400 Index (MID) at tomorrow's close. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AMPH) will subsequently take Cirrus Logic, Inc.'s place on the S&P SmallCap 600 Index (SP600).

AMD is 1.5% higher in electronic trading, after Bernstein raised its rating on the stock to "market perform" from "underperform" and its price target to $5 from $3. This is just the latest in a wave of bullish brokerage attention AMD stock has received of late, which has helped the stock surge nearly 9% following a mid-September bounce off its 80-day moving average. Longer term, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has more than doubled year-to-date, and closed Monday at $6.16. Short-term options traders are more call-heavy than usual toward AMD. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.51 rests lower than 72% of all comparable readings taken in the past year.

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