Analyst Upgrades: GrubHub, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Analysts are weighing in today on food delivery service GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB), professional networking platform LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), and microblogging platform Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on GRUB, LNKD, and TWTR.

• GRUB's fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates, with its revenue increasing 50% and 2015 guidance topping analysts' expectations. A round of bullish analyst attention has ensued, with Stifel, Canaccord Genuity, CRT Capital, and Raymond James all moving their price targets up to $50. The former three reiterated "buy" ratings, while Raymond James upgraded it to "strong buy" from "outperform." Additional bullish notes were handed out by Citigroup, Brean, RBC Capital, Barrington Research, and Monness Crespi Hardt. GrubHub Inc is up 2.36% at $40.70, after adding over 6% yesterday. The shares have been surging of late, outpacing the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 17 percentage points in the past three months. It's no wonder, then, to see analysts hopping on the bullish bandwagon. Currently, 85% of covering brokerage firms rate GRUB a "buy" or better.


• LNKD surged higher in electronic trading, after posting strong fourth-quarter numbers. The analyst community rushed to the scene, with no fewer than 23 brokerage firms increasing their expected price for the stock. The most flattering target came from Credit Suisse, raising its target price to $331 from $285, and keeping its "outperform" rating. The stock has been receiving positive attention in its options pits. LinkedIn Corp's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio is 1.40, ranking higher than 86% of all similar readings from the past year. However, 7.3% of LNKD's float is in the hands of short sellers, and represents over a weeks' worth of trading, at typical daily levels, so some of this call buying could be hedging activity. Looking back, the stock has added 41% since its mid-October low of $187.61 to perch at $264.50, after hitting an all-time high of $265.50 this morning.


• TWTR is up 12.9% at $46.60, as an earnings beat and 97% rise in revenue are apparently overshadowing a less-than-stellar user growth rate. The response from the analyst crowd has been overwhelmingly bullish, as no fewer than 13 brokerage firms raised their price targets, led by J.P. Morgan Securities -- which upped its target to $67 from $64, and reiterated an "overweight" rating. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Janney cut its fair value to $53 from $56, but reaffirmed a "buy" opinion. Twitter Inc has added almost 30% since the start of 2015 and call buying has picked up as a result. In the past ten weeks at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, 2.40 TWTR calls have been bought to open for every put.