Stifel wants everyone to know it's bullish on Kite Pharma Inc (KITE)
Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE) is on the rise, adding 10.4% to trade at $51.15. The equity is benefiting from attention at Stifel, which restated its bullish outlook for the stock following a note that may have been "incorrectly perceived as negative." Now, calls are crossing at three times the average intraday pace, and it looks like traders are buying to open the out-of-the-money June 70 strike. These traders expect KITE to add 37%, and topple $70 before the close on Friday, June 19, when the contracts expire.
This wouldn't be completely unfamiliar territory for the shares, as they were trading above $70 as recently as late March. However, during the past two months, KITE has trailed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 34 percentage points. In fact, according the security's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 30, the shares have been oversold. Today's pop may have been in the cards for KITE, even without Stifel's remarks.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, most analysts remain bullish, despite the stock's recent technical performance. All four covering brokerage firms say Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE) is a "strong buy," while the biotech's consensus 12-month price target of $83 marks a roughly 62% premium to current levels.