Analyst Downgrades: SolarWinds, Advanced Micro Devices

Analysts are weighing in today on software company SolarWinds Inc (NYSE:SWI), chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), and automaker Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on SWI, AMD, and F.

• SWI is getting burned this morning, due to a second-quarter revenue miss and weak guidance. Analysts are throwing salt on the stock's wounds, with Baird and Deutsche Bank both downgrading their ratings to the equivalent of a "hold," while slashing their price targets to $50 and $45, respectively.  Five other firms also trimmed their price targets on SolarWinds Inc. At last check, the shares were down 20.5% to trade at $37.41 -- and fresh off an annual low of $36.82 -- bringing their 2015 deficit to 24.9%. This isn't good news for traders at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), who have bought to open three times as many calls as puts over the last two weeks. The resultant call/put volume ratio of 2.99 outranks two-thirds of comparable readings from the past year.


• AMD is down 4.3% at $1.79 -- one penny off the six-year low of $1.78 the stock tagged earlier -- after the company missed the Street's consensus second-quarter revenue estimate. The shares are also feeling the heat from a round of price-target cuts from Canaccord Genuity, Mizuho, Wedbush, BofA-Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup. Longer term, things have been brutal for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., which has lost 33% in 2015. Based on the stock's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.74 -- which sits above 88% of readings taken in the last 12 months -- options traders anticipate even more downside ahead.


• Susquehanna is weighing in on a number of automotive names, including F. Specifically, the firm cut its price target on the stock to $15 from $16. This negative sentiment is reflected in Ford Motor Company's options pits, as well. The security's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.71 is just 2 percentage points from an annual high, indicating traders have been scooping up long puts over calls at a breakneck pace. It's no wonder, either -- F has struggled on the charts. Since getting rejected by its 120-day moving average in late June, the stock has tumbled 7.3% to trade at $14.52.

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