Buzz Stocks: Apple, TASER, OmniVision Technologies

U.S. benchmarks are lower this morning, with traders still weighing yesterday's gross domestic product (GDP) and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) developments. Among the equities in focus are tech king Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), electrical weapon maker TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASR) and chip manufacturer OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OVTI).

• AAPL is moving lower this morning due to reports that some of the features on its new Apple Watch don't work properly on people with tattoos, and potential problems with the device's taptic engine. The shares were last seen 0.5% lower at $128.05, continuing their downward momentum since releasing impressive first-quarter numbers. Even with Apple Inc.'s monster earnings report, the stock has still underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) during the past two months, as it's been range-bound between $121 and $133. If the shares continue to struggle, there's potential for analyst downgrades to pressure them lower. Twenty brokerage firms rate AAPL a "strong buy," with three others rating it a "buy" -- compared to 11 "holds" and not a single "sell."


• Thanks to a strong first-quarter earnings report, TASR is racing up the charts, tacking on 5.4% to trade at $29.59 -- and earlier touched a nine-year high of $31.15. This is just more of the same for the shares, as they have added 38.5% since their 2015 low of $21.39 on March 10. Short sellers certainly can't be happy about this, as one-fourth of TASER International, Inc.'s float is sold short. Making matters worse for bears, it would take them over 11 sessions to buy back these shares, going by TASR's average daily volumes.


• OVTI has made a 5% move to the upside this morning to trade at $28.05, thanks to reports claiming the company could be purchased by a group of Chinese investors. This marks the stock's first move north of $28 since early December, as the shares have been stuck trading between $26.50 and $27.50 since. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. options traders have been preparing for such a breakthrough. During the past two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), over 18 calls have been bought to open for each put. This 10-day call/put volume ratio of 18.28 is higher than 91% of readings from the past year, meaning call buying has been more popular than what's normally seen.