Analyst Upgrades: Alphabet, Tower Semiconductor, Microsoft

Analysts are weighing in on search giant Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Israel-based chipmaker Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (USA) (NASDAQ:TSEM), and Windows parent Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on GOOGL, TSEM, and MSFT.

• MKM Partners raised its price target on GOOGL in a big way, pushing the shares 0.5% higher ahead of the open. Specifically, the brokerage firm boosted its price target by $135 to $940, which represents a roughly 24% premium to Tuesday's close at $758.26, and territory never before explored by the stock. Bullish analyst attention is nothing new for Alphabet Inc, with 31 of 33 covering analysts calling it a "buy" or better, and not a single "sell" rating on the books. With the shares sitting nearly 43% higher in 2015 -- and just off their all-time peak of $766.35, notched last week -- you can't really blame anyone for being bullish. 

• Despite reporting a record-breaking quarter and predicting an "excellent" 2016, TSEM is pointed 0.4% lower in electronic trading -- which would cut in to the stock's 8% year-to-date gain at $14.40. The equity is also set to shrug off a price-target hike to $17 from $14 at Leader Capital Markets. To get to that price level, though, Tower Semiconductor Ltd. would need to overcome its 200-day moving average, which has been weighing on the shares since early July. A shift in option trader behavior could help. TSEM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.77 stands higher than 83% of all other readings from the past year. This means short-term speculators are more put-skewed than normal. 

• Thanks to a price-target increase to $60 from $54 at CLSA, MSFT will look to add to its 15.2% year-to-date lead, closing Tuesday at $53.51. In the options pits, traders have been betting on extended gains for the stock. Microsoft Corporation sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.16 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks higher than 73% of all readings from the past year. In other words, call buying has been faster than usual of late.  In other news, MSFT plans to open data centers in Germany next year to serve its European customers.