Analyst Update: Alcoa, SanDisk, and Tiffany & Co.

Analysts are weighing in today on aluminum concern Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), data storage solutions specialist SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on AA, SNDK, and TIF.

• All eyes will be on AA this evening when the company unofficially kicks off fourth-quarter earnings season. Ahead of the report, Nomura raised its outlook on the company to "buy" from "neutral," while bumping its price target by $8 to $23. With the positive note, the stock has added 0.2% to trade at $16.15, bringing its year-over-year gain to nearly 60%. Still, near-term speculators have been put-skewed ahead of the earnings call, according to Alcoa Inc's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.91, which ranks in its 86th annual percentile.


• After downwardly revising its fourth-quarter revenue forecast, SNDK saw price-target cuts from FBN and Morgan Stanley. The former lowered its target to $105 from $120 (but reaffirmed its "outperform" rating), and the latter also dropped its target price to $105 from $109 (and kept its "overweight" recommendation"). The equity has subsequently plummeted 14.7% to trade at $82.74 -- territory not seen since October. Short sellers are likely cheering SanDisk Corporation's struggles, as over 7% of its float is sold short. It would take over a week to buy back all these bearish bets, at SNDK's average daily pace of trading.


• TIF cut its full-year forecast for 2015 after reporting disappointing holiday sales figures, and expressed concern over "significant headwinds from the stronger U.S. dollar" against its key currencies. In response, the equity saw its price target slashed by three brokerage firms, with the most pessimistic being Credit Suisse. Specifically, the brokerage firm cut its target price to $97 from $108, and reaffirmed its "neutral" opinion. Tiffany & Co. was last seen 14% lower at $88.99, erasing nearly all of its year-over-year gains. If the stock doesn't turn things around, it could see additional negative notes from analysts, since nine out of 19 that currently cover TIF deem it a "strong buy."