Analyst Upgrades: Netflix, Inc., NVIDIA Corporation, and Zynga Inc

Analysts are weighing in today on "House of Cards" producer Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), visualization expert NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and mobile gaming giant Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on NFLX, NVDA, and ZNGA.

• NFLX has been a technical beast, rallying 159% year-to-date at $126.45, and hitting a record high of $129.29 on Wednesday. The stock could make a run at that milestone this morning, up 1% pre-market on a bullish note from Pivotal Research. Specifically, the brokerage firm raised its price target to $175 from $155. Netflix, Inc. is no stranger to positive analyst attention. Eighteen of 28 brokerages have doled out "buy" or better opinions. However, there remains room for future price-target hikes, as NFLX's consensus 12-month price target of $114.54 stands at a discount to current trading levels.

• NVDA's second-quarter earnings beat and strong revenue forecast are being well-received on the Street. Specifically, Roth Capital upped its rating to "buy" from "neutral," while no fewer than eight analysts boosted their price targets -- including by Topeka Capital, which lifted its target to $24 from $23, saying it believes, "NVDA can benefit from newer drivers such as the launch of a new PC operating system and new game title launches." As such, NVIDIA Corporation is pointed 9% north ahead of the bell -- and on track to take out the $22 mark for the first time since late June. Heading into today, though, the shares have gained just 2% year-to-date. As such, traders have bought to open puts over calls at an accelerated clip in recent weeks, per data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). NVDA's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.64 outranks all but 10% of comparable readings taken in the last year.

• ZNGA revealed a narrower-than-expected second-quarter loss, but forecast current-quarter bookings below estimates, as well. The company also declined to comment on rumors it may go private, and announced a partnership with Time Warner Inc's (NYSE:TWX) Warner Bros. Entertainment to create Willy Wonka-themed casino games. Zynga Inc is currently up 4.5% in electronic trading, as it tries to claw its way back into the black for 2015 after finishing at $2.45 last night. In the options pits, traders have been rolling the dice on a breakout to the upside. ZNGA's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 11.51 ranks in the 90th percentile of its annual range.

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