Lowe's Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) has been the recipient of plenty of bullish analyst attention this week, with a little under a week until the company reports its first-quarter earnings before the open on Wednesday, May 19. The stock has received price-target hikes from no less than four brokerage firms throughout the week, and Oppenheimer has jumped on the bandwagon today, upgrading the equity to an "outperform" rating from "perform." The analyst cited the stock's favorable valuation, especially compared to that of direct rival Home Depot (HD). 

Lowe's stock is up 1.3% to trade at $198.12, recuperating some of this week's selloff, though the formerly supportive 30-day moving average still looms just above. The stock saw a sharp pullback from its Monday record peak at $215.22, though it does look like the 40-day moving average could contain most of this drop. For the year, LOW is up 21.8%. 

Circling back to analyst sentiment, it looks as if the brokerage bunch has been mostly optimistic. Coming into today, 15 of the 21 analysts in coverage considered Lowe's stock a "buy" or better, while six said "hold." The 12-month consensus target price of $219.52 is a 12.3% premium to last night's close. 

Option traders have echoed this optimism. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Lowe's stock sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.64, which stands higher than 79% of readings from the past 12 months. This suggests calls are being picked up at a much quicker-than-usual clip. 

Things more initial and continuing jobless claims data are due out. Plus, with inflation a hot topic of late, the producer price index (PPI) will garner some much earned attention.

The following companies are slated to release quarterly earnings reports today, May 13:

Looking ahead to tomorrow, it'll be an absolutely packed Friday featuring retail sales, the import price index, and industrial production. Consumer sentiment, business inventories, and capacity utilization reports are also slated for release.

It's safe to say the shares of GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) have quieted a bit since the Reddit-fueled madness that turned the stock (and much of the broader market for a time) volatile late last winter. In April, the equity saw a relatively muted one-month drop of 8.6%, and it looks to be steadily sliding lower through May, down 16% so far. Of course, GME is still trading well above where it stood back before these speculators got their hands on the retail concern, boasting a year-over-year gain of 3,105.9%. This afternoon, GME is up 0.5% at $147.

There's evidence the stock could stage a short-term bounce, too. Looking at one study from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, data shows GME coming within one standard deviation of its 80-day moving average following a lengthy period above the trendline. GME has seen three similar moves during the past three years. One week after each of these signals, the stock was higher, averaging an impressive 60.8% return. from its current perch, a move of similar magnitude would put the security just below the $234 level, which sits near the low-end of its mid-March peak. 

Clearly, the extreme volatility that erupted on the charts cannot be discounted for inflating this five-day return, though it should be pointed out that the trendline has acted as a trusty floor for GameStop since its penny stock days back in August 2020. The $150 region could provide an additional buffer as well, as its captured several pullbacks since March. 

Short sellers are beginning to climb back on the bearish bandwagon with GME. Short interest rose 10.5% in the last two reporting periods, and now makes up a hefty 20.8% of the stock's available float. 

Meanwhile, the options pits are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations for GameStop stock. The security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 105% stands higher than only 7% of readings from the past 12 months. In other words, GME options can be had at an affordable premium right now. 

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) is gearing up for its fiscal third-quarter earnings release, expected out later this month after the market closes on Tuesday, May 25. The company said on Tuesday that it will most likely top the fiscal 2021 sales and earnings forecast it set in February, though revenue could lag because of this year's tax filing extension to  May 17. RBC lifted its price target to $490 from $480 in response. 

Intuit stock is flat despite the announcement, last seen just a hair's breadth above last night's close at $395. The past year has been a choppy one for INTU, with the $420 mark acting as a ceiling on two separate occasions since February, keeping the stock from reclaiming its Feb 16. all-time high of $423.74. Nevertheless, the security still sports a 37.2% year-to-date lead, with the 120-day moving average containing most of INTU's pullbacks since April 2020. 

Analysts are overwhelmingly bullish on the equity. Coming into today, 12 considered the stock a "strong buy," compared to just three "hold" ratings. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $451.61 is a 14.3% premium to current levels. 

Options traders have taken a much different stance. In fact, over six puts have been picked up for every call during the past two  weeks at the  International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than all but 2% of readings from the past 12 months, suggesting a much healthier-than-usual appetite for long puts of late. 

Short sellers have been targeting INTU in droves, too. Short interest surged 26.5% in the most recent reporting period. The 2.91 million shares sold short still make up a slim 1.1% of the stock's available float, though, and it would take a little over two days to buy back these bearish bets at INTU's average daily pace of  trading.