Analyst Upgrades: NVIDIA, NXP, Chesapeake Energy

Analysts are weighing in today on chipmakers NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI), as well as oil-and-gas issue Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on NVDA, NXPI, and CHK.

• FBR upped its price target for NVDA to $22 from $20 -- and underscored its "market perform" rating -- representing expected upside of 11.3% to the stock's present perch at $19.77. This bullish positioning isn't surprising, considering NVDA has rallied nearly 29% over the past 52 weeks, and hit a three-year peak of $21.25 in early December. In light of this, NVIDIA Corporation could be due for an additional round of bullish brokerage notes -- or an unwinding of skepticism in the options pits. At present, more than 65% of analysts covering the shares maintain a "hold" or worse rating, while the average 12-month price target of $21.39 sits just 8.2% above the stock's current price.


• FBR also weighed in on NXPI, boosting its price target by $10 to $90, and reiterating its "outperform" assessment. The stock also received a price-target hike to $95 from $85 at Canaccord Genuity, which likewise maintained its "buy" rating. NXP Semiconductors NV has had an outstanding run on the charts over the past 52 weeks, tacking on roughly 84% to trade at $79.06 -- and tagging a fresh all-time high of $81.29 out of the gate today -- and option traders have been quick to take note. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.85 ranks in the bullishly skewed 73rd annual percentile.


• Goldman Sachs raised its outlook on CHK to "buy" from "neutral," despite the stock's 5% year-over-year deficit to trade at $17.93. More recently, the equity spent last week churning south of its 20-day moving average -- currently located at $18.80 -- prompting a rush of put buying in the equity's options pits. In fact, CHK's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 3.75 ranks in the 99th percentile of its annual range, meaning puts have been bought to open over calls with more rapidity just 1% of the time within the past year. Echoing this put-skewed bias is CHK's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.79, which ranks higher than 88% of similar readings taken in the past year. Simply stated, short-term speculators are more put-heavy than usual toward Chesapeake Energy Corporation.