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Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on CLF, BIDU, and NVDA
Analysts are weighing in today on mining magnate Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE:CLF), Beijing-based Internet issue Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU), and chipmaker NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on CLF, BIDU, and NVDA.
- CLF soared 7% on Friday to close at $11.23, following reports that Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) may invest in its Bloom Lake iron-ore mine. Today, the equity is on pace to add to these gains, thanks to a price-target hike to $10 from $7.50 at BMO, with the brokerage firm also underscoring its "market perform" rating. On the charts, CLF has been a long-term laggard, with the shares staring at a 57.2% year-to-date deficit, and traders expect these struggles to continue. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), for example, the equity's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.02 ranks in the bearishly skewed 64th percentile of its annual range. Elsewhere, more than half of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc's float is sold short.
- BIDU extended its post-earnings momentum on Friday, tagging a new record peak of $242.62, before settling the session at $238.77. Nomura seems encouraged by BIDU's action both on and off the charts. Specifically, the brokerage firm reiterated its "buy" rating on the shares, saying "We prefer companies that are likely to make a smooth transition to mobile and advise that investors avoid those likely to face stiff competition." Nomura's outlook just echoes the withstanding trend witnessed among the brokerage bunch. At present, 12 "strong buy" ratings are levied toward Baidu Inc (ADR), versus one "hold" and not a single "sell." Additionally, the consensus 12-month price target of $272.13 stands at a 14% premium to BIDU's current perch -- and in territory yet to be charted.
- Pacific Crest raised its outlook on NVDA to "sector perform" from "underperform," ahead of the company's turn in the earnings confessional this Thursday evening. "Supply-chain conversations indicate strong demand for Nvidia's two recently launched high-end desktop GPU cards … with channel partners indicating material share gains," explained the brokerage firm. Short-term option traders are split ahead of NVDA's quarterly earnings results, as evidenced by the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.74, which ranks in the middling 55th annual percentile. Outside of the options pits, though, sentiment is a bit more skeptical, with 8% of NVIDIA Corporation's float sold short -- representing nearly five sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at average daily trading levels.