Buzz Stocks: BlackBerry, Darden Restaurants, and IHS

With the situation in Greece looking more promising still, U.S. stocks are set for a strong morning. Among the equities in focus are tech concern BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), restaurant owner Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), and analytics firm IHS Inc. (NYSE:IHS).

• BBRY is off 0.7% in pre-market action, despite the company posting stronger-than-expected software revenue for the first quarter. A new licensing deal with Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) also has the stock buzzing, as BlackBerry Ltd will receive licensing fees from CSCO as part of the agreement. It'll be interesting to see if today's positive news can dispel any of the pessimism surrounding the stock. Most notably, almost 18% of BBRY's float is sold short, and would take more than 13 sessions to repurchase, at the security's average daily volumes. The shares settled at $9.20 yesterday, sitting 9.1% lower year-over-year. Elsewhere, the company is also hosting its annual shareholders meeting today. 


• DRI is pointed close to 5% higher ahead of the open, with traders applauding the company's decision to start a real estate investment trust (REIT) using 430 of its properties, which will act as its own publicly traded company. What's more, the equity's fiscal fourth-quarter numbers beat the Street's expectations. Darden Restaurants, Inc. is already up over 45% during the past 12 months, and could move higher if analysts become more bullish. Twelve of 22 brokerage firms say DRI is a "hold" or worse, and the stock is set to take out its average 12-month price target of $69.68 out of the gate. On Monday, the shares closed at $69.38, and could topple their late-March all-time high of $70.38 this morning.


• There's a lot to digest with ​IHS​ this morning. The company announced fiscal second-quarter numbers that topped expectations, while raising its full-year outlook and approving a $500 million stock buyback plan. The shares have been strong in 2015, up 13% at $128.63. IHS Inc. option traders have remained focused on puts, though. The security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at 1.74, higher than 72% of all similar readings from the past year. 

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