Analyst Downgrades: TripAdvisor, Garmin, QUALCOMM

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings on Tripadvisor Inc (TRIP), Garmin Ltd. (GRMN), and QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM)

Josh Selway

Apr 6, 2015 at 9:45 AM

Analysts are weighing in today on travel accommodations website Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), navigation expert Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), and communications concern QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on TRIP, GRMN, and QCOM.

TRIP is down 1.2% this morning at $81.51, after being cut to "hold" from "buy" at Needham. Coming into today, the shares had added 10.5% in 2015, thanks to a strong showing in the earnings confessional in mid-February. In Tripadvisor Inc's options pits, shot-term option traders have been far more put-skewed than normal. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.40 indicates that put open interest outstrips call open interest among options expiring in the next three months. What's more, this ratio is only 3 percentage points from an annual peak.

GRMN is getting hammered this morning due to negative attention from Citigroup. The brokerage firm dropped the equity to "sell" from "buy," and cut its price target to $42 from $68, citing increasing pressure in the competitive GPS fitness watch market. At last check, Garmin Ltd. was 2.6% lower at $45.30, and fresh off an annual low of $44.57. Also, over the past two months, the shares have underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 13 percentage points. It's no surprise, then, to note that short interest accounts for 16% of GRMN's float -- representing almost nine sessions' worth of trading, at normal daily volumes.

QCOM is hurting this morning, off 1.3% at $67.10, after reports that Samsung used more of its own chips in its new Galaxy S6 smartphone, instead of those made by the San Diego-based firm. Adding insult to injury, FBR cut its rating on QCOM to "market perform" from "outperform," slashed its price target to $72 from $80, and removed the stock from its "Top Picks" list. The security has now dropped 14.1% year-over-year, and options traders have taken notice. During the past two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), QUALCOMM, Inc. has amassed a put/call volume ratio of 0.89 -- higher than 89% of all such readings from the past year. In other words, speculators have been buying to open puts over calls at an accelerated clip.

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