Analyst Downgrades: AMD, Halliburton, Salesforce

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on AMD, HAL, and CRM

Karee Venema

Dec 19, 2014 at 9:27 AM

Analysts are weighing in today on semiconductor concern Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), oil-and-gas issue Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), and cloud company Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on AMD, HAL, and CRM.

It's been a dismal year for AMD, which has shed more than 34% to churn at $2.55. BofA-Merrill Lynch thinks there's more downside on the horizon, too, and cut its price target on the shares to $2.25 from $3.25. This bearish positioning toward Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. isn't relegated to the brokerage bunch, though. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AMD's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.02 ranks in the 81st annual percentile, meaning puts have been bought to open over calls at a faster-than-usual clip in recent months.

Citigroup chimed in on a number of energy names this morning, and for HAL, this meant a price-target reduction to $50 from $68. However, the brokerage firm reiterated its "buy" rating, echoing the majority of the 25 analysts currently covering the shares. Additionally, the equity's consensus 12-month price target of $56.19 stands at a steep 43.2% premium to last night's close at $39.23. Should Halliburton Company extend its nearly 23% year-to-date deficit, another round of bearish brokerage notes could be on the horizon.

Jefferies slashed its price target on CRM to $47, representing expected downside of 20.8% to Thursday's close at $59.33 -- as well as territory not seen by Salesforce.com, inc. since August 2013. In fact, the stock has been bouncing steadily higher over the past 12 months, tacking on 11.8%. Option traders have kept the faith, though, as evidenced by the equity's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 4.30. Not only does this show that more than four calls have been bought to open for every put over the past two weeks, but it ranks just 2 percentage points from a 52-week peak.

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