Peloton's 40-day moving average has acted as pressure on the charts since early February
Since plummeting past the $18 region late last week, shares of Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON) have been huffing and puffing -- trying to gain any sort of traction as markets become increasingly volatile. While the equity managed to string together four straight wins since last week's selloff, a price target cut to $35 from $38 out of J.P. Morgan Securities has the equity festering below breakeven at midday, down 7.2% at $23.94 at last check.
A bear note from J.P. Morgan isn't the only thing snuffing out PTON's recent rebound attempt. The stock's 40-day moving average has served as a solid ceiling on the charts since early February, with several run-ups in the past few weeks swiftly captured by the trendline. For the week, however, Peloton still boasts a 29% gain.
Most members of the brokerage bunch are bullish on the fitness concern, with 21 in coverage calling Peloton a "buy" or better, and only two outliers saying "hold." Plus, the consensus 12-month price target of $37.33 is a roughly 50% premium to current levels.
An unwinding of short interest may have helped add some wind at the equity's back recently. Short interest fell 30.3% in the last reporting period. Despite this, bears are still firmly in control, with the 26.99 million shares sold short making up an eyebrow-raising 65.1% of PTON's available float, or nearly a week at its average daily pace of trading.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) it's a different story. Long puts appear to be outnumbering long calls, per the equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.32.