Today's stocks to watch in the news include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA), Fitbit Inc (FIT), and Jabil Circuit, Inc. (JBL)
In the wake of yesterday's Fed policy statement, futures are pointed higher ahead of the bell. In company news, today's stocks to watch include e-commerce concern Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), wearable tech firm Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), and electronic design specialist Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL).
- BABA has entered into a joint venture with Taiwan's Foxconn Technology and Japan's SoftBank Corp to sell the latter's household robot, named Pepper. Specifically, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Foxconn are each paying $118 million to secure 20% stakes in SoftBank Robotics Holdings. Shifting gears, it's been a rough 2015 for BABA, down 16.5% year-to-date to rest at $86.80, and currently facing pressure from its descending 10-day moving average. Nevertheless, analysts remain extremely bullish, doling out 21 "strong buy" ratings, two "buys," and not a single "hold" or worse recommendation. In other words, BABA could be vulnerable to future downgrades.
- FIT will make its highly anticipated Big Board debut today, and priced its initial public offering at $20 per share -- above the anticipated $17-$19 range. At these levels, Fitbit Inc is valued at over $4 billion. Last year, the company earned nearly $132 million on roughly $745 million in sales.
- Finally, JBL is bracing for a 7.5% drop out of the gate, amid the firm's mixed fiscal third-quarter results and lower-than-expected revenue forecast. The expected gap lower threatens to wipe out most of the stock's year-to-date gains, and send it south of its supportive 80-day moving average. This may be good news for recent put buyers. During the last two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Jabil Circuit, Inc. has racked up a put/call volume ratio of 1.85 -- in the 89th percentile of its annual range. JBL closed Wednesday at $24.33.