Analyst Upgrades: SanDisk, Cirrus Logic, and Fortinet

Analysts are weighing in today on storage device specialist SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), integrated circuit issue Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS), and cybersecurity stock Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SNDK, CRUS, and FTNT.

• SNDK is up 12% in electronic trading, after the company's second-quarter profit roughly doubled the average analyst estimate. Adding to the bullish buzz are upgrades to "buy" at B. Riley and BofA-Merrill Lynch, as well as price-target hikes from no fewer than four brokerage firms. (Jefferies and Stifel, however, lowered their respective target prices.) Today's projected price move will provide a much-needed boost for a stock that's down nearly 45% year-to-date at $54.18 -- and fresh off a two-year low of $53.18. Against this backdrop, sentiment around the Street is skewed toward the skeptical side. In the options pits, specifically, SanDisk Corporation's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 4.11 ranks 3 percentage points from a 52-week peak.


• CRUS -- a big supplier for struggling Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) -- is also set to pop in the wake of a strong quarterly report, up 10% ahead of the bell. What's more, Stifel boosted its outlook on the shares to "buy" from "hold," while Northland Securities upped its price target to $45 from $44 -- territory not charted since September 2012. While the security has done well in 2015 -- up 30% at $30.71 -- CRUS has more recently pulled back to its 180-day moving average after hitting a two-year high of $38.20 in late May, and closed just north of this trendline last night. Meanwhile, short-term option speculators are more put-skewed now than at any other time in the past year -- Cirrus Logic, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.51 rests higher than all comparable readings taken over the last 12 months.


• Stellar second-quarter earnings and a subsequent round of bullish brokerage notes has FTNT up 11.6% in electronic trading -- and on its way to take out its June 18 all-time peak of $44.12. Among the many names chiming in on the stock was J.P. Morgan Securities, which raised its rating to "overweight," as well as Oppenheimer and JMP Securities -- which each boosted their price targets to $55. Longer term, FTNT has rallied almost 38% year-to-date -- thanks to a rash of recent cyber attacks -- to trade at $42.30. Put players have been active, though, and at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, Fortinet Inc's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 4.58 arrives in the 98th annual percentile. Simply stated, puts have been bought to open over calls at a faster clip just 2% of the time within the past year.

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