Analysts upwardly revised their ratings on Salesforce.com, inc. (CRM), Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BRCD), and General Growth Properties Inc (GGP)
Analysts are weighing in today on cloud concern Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), networking expert Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD), and real estate investment trust (REIT) General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on CRM, BRCD, and GGP.
- CRM is sizzling in pre-market trading -- up 3.8%, thanks to better-than-expected quarterly results, an upwardly revised full-year forecast, and a subsequent round of bullish brokerage attention. Specifically, the stock saw its price target raised by no fewer than six firms, with UBS setting the highest bar, at $89. Brean Capital, meanwhile, raised its target price to $86, citing substantial growth expectations. Today's projected gains are business as usual for Salesforce.com, inc., which has rallied over 14% year-to-date to sit at $67.82. Traders at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) have been betting bullishly in recent months, buying to open 2.58 calls for every put. The corresponding call/put volume ratio ranks just 9 percentage points from an annual high.
- BRCD's standout quarterly results have earned the applause of Wall Street. Specifically, Summit Research upgraded its opinion on the shares to a "buy" -- though BMO trimmed its price target to $12 -- sending them 5.5% higher ahead of the bell. This represents quite the reversal for a stock that's lost nearly 18% this year to trade at $9.72. Given these longer-term struggles, the brokerage bunch as a whole is skeptical toward Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. In fact, 88% of covering analysts rate the stock a "hold" or worse.
- Credit Suisse weighed in on a number of real estate names yesterday, including GGP, where it upped its assessment to "outperform" from "neutral." Barclays followed suit overnight, bumping its price target to $31 from $30. Technically speaking, General Growth Properties Inc lies 2% below its year-to-date flatline, at $27.59, but is on track to close a third consecutive week above its 20-week moving average, which previously acted as a foothold in March. Despite the ho-hum price action, optimism toward GGP is palpable. Ninety percent of analysts rate the stock a "buy" or better -- with not a single "sell" in sight -- while its 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 2.23 registers in the 85th percentile of its annual range. In other words, traders have bought to open calls over puts at an accelerated pace of late.
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