Analyst Downgrades: Yandex, US Steel, Fossil Group

Analysts are weighing in on search engine specialist Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX), steel producer United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), and fashion accessories issue Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on YNDX, X, and FOSL.

• YNDX jumped 6% out of the gate to trade at $17.69, after the company's strong fourth-quarter earnings report and upbeat current-quarter revenue outlook overshadowed a price-target cut to $24 from $45 at J.P. Morgan Securities. Longer term, YNDX has been a technical laggard, shedding roughly half its value over the past 52 weeks. In spite of this, options traders have shown a preference for long calls over puts in recent months. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), for example, Yandex NV's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.91 ranks higher than 86% of similar readings taken in the past year.


• Citigroup cut its price target on X to $17 from $19, representing expected downside of 35% to the stock's current perch at $25.98 -- as well as a move to new annual-low territory. This negative outlook isn't surprising, considering the shares have shed more than 44% since hitting a three-year high of $46.55 in mid-September. However, it's not one shared by the options crowd. United States Steel Corporation's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 1.95 ranks in the 90th annual percentile, meanings calls have been bought to open over puts with more rapidity just 10% of the time within the past year.


• FOSL plunged nearly 18% out of the gate -- and to a new two-year low of $80.75 -- after its fourth-quarter earnings miss was met with a slew of bearish brokerage notes. Included in the bunch was a price-target cut to $86 from $106 at Sterne Agee, and a price-target reduction to $80 from $99 at Nomura. Both brokerage firms reiterated their "neutral" ratings. Should the shares extend this post-earnings decline, additional price-target cuts could be on the horizon. The average 12-month price target for Fossil Group Inc of $115.73 stands at a 42% premium to the equity's current perch at $81.59.