Analyst Update: Yahoo!, TripAdvisor, RF Micro Devices

Analysts are weighing in on YHOO, TRIP, and RFMD

Nov 14, 2014 at 2:47 PM
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Markets have moved lower this afternoon as traders take some profits off the table ahead of the weekend. Meanwhile, among equities in focus are Internet issue Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), online travel company TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), and semiconductor specialist RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), which have all attracted the attention of analysts.

  • YHOO tagged another 14-year peak of $51.95 earlier -- but was last seen up 2.5% at $51.77 -- after FBR boosted its price target on the shares to $60 from $50, and underscored its "outperform" rating. It's been a standout year for Yahoo! Inc., which has rallied 28%, and a continued rise could prompt another round of bullish brokerage notes. At present, nine of the 25 analysts covering the shares still maintain a tepid "hold" rating, and the consensus 12-month price target of $49.68 stands at a discount to current trading levels.

  • TRIP, meanwhile, wallowed to a fresh annual low of $67.14 this morning, following a price-target cut to $80 from $87 -- and lackluster "hold" recommendation -- at Evercore. However, this new price target still represents expected upside of 15.8% to the stock's present price of $69.11. On the charts, the security has been steadily losing ground since topping out at a record high of $111.24 in late June, and is down almost 38% from this technical milestone. Option traders and short sellers alike are gambling on additional losses for the shares. TRIP's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 2.00 ranks in the bearishly skewed 85th percentile of its annual range. Short interest, meanwhile, accounts for a lofty 9.9% of the equity's available float, and would take seven sessions to cover, at TripAdvisor Inc's average daily pace of trading.

  • Pacific Crest weighed in on RFMD earlier, raising its price target by $1 to $15, and reiterating its "outperform" rating. This echoes the withstanding trend witnessed among the brokerage bunch, with 69% of covering analysts maintaining a "buy" or "strong buy" suggestion, and the average 12-month price target of $15.33 standing in territory not charted since June 2002. Option traders, meanwhile, have taken a more skeptical route, as evidenced by RFMD's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.15, which ranks higher than 76% of similar readings taken over the past year. Given RF Micro Devices, Inc.'s impressive 162% year-to-date advance that has the stock lingering near $13.50, though, a portion of this recent put buying may have been at the hands of shareholders protecting paper profits.
 

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