Analyst Upgrades: Tesla Motors Inc, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., and salesforce.com, inc.

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), and salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Josh Selway

Nov 18, 2016 at 9:27 AM

Analysts are weighing in on electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), semiconductor stock Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), and cloud concern salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on TSLA, MRVL, and CRM.

TSLA is set to add over 1% out of the gate, after shareholders last night approved the company's acquisition of SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY). What's more, CEO Elon Musk also said he expects the Model 3 sedan to be revealed next spring. The news prompted Baird to reiterate its bullish "outperform" assessment of the stock, and its $338 price target, which represents a 79% premium to last night's close of $188.66. However, Tesla Motors Inc has been trending lower since flirting with the $270 mark back in April, and most analysts do not share Baird's enthusiasm. Currently, just three of 17 brokerage firms recommend buying Tesla stock.
Bullish notes are pouring in on MRVL following the company's third-quarter earnings beat, sending the shares 8% higher in electronic trading -- on track to notch a new annual high. Susquehanna was among at least 10 brokerage firms that raised their price targets, setting the bar at $17, while also upgrading the stock to "positive" from "neutral." The $17 mark represents territory Marvell Technology Group Ltd. hasn't seen since March 2011, though the shares have rallied 51.5% year-to-date -- closing last night at $13.36. Short-term options traders have favored near-the-money calls over puts, per MRVL's gamma-weighted Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.28.

CRM is up almost 6% in pre-market action, thanks to an impressive third-quarter earnings report and a better-than-expected outlook. Mizuho and Citigroup followed this up with price-target increases to $95, while Wedbush bumped its mark to $98 and BMO to $90. After closing Thursday at $75.19, today's expected move could put salesforce.com, inc. back into the black for 2016, and short sellers may be sweating. During the last two reporting periods alone, short interest on the stock rose by close to 62%, and now roughly 20 million shares are sold short, the most since May 2015.

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