Analyst Upgrades: Finish Line Inc, Ambarella Inc, and McDonald's Corporation

Analysts are weighing in on athletic retailer Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), semiconductor producer Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA), and fast food giant McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on BBRY, RLYP, and FB.

• FINL is 1% higher at $18.58, after Brean Capital raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold." In addition, FINL is enjoying a post-earnings halo lift from Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE). Finish Line Inc has been slumping on the charts since its September bear gap, but has made up a fair bit of ground since hitting a four-year low of $15.37 in November. The stock is sitting on an 11.6% month-to-date gain, and is on pace to end the week atop its 10-week trendline for the first time since August. While 11 out of 18 analysts still say FINL is a "hold" or worse, option traders have been relatively bullish lately. The stock has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.20, lower than all but 11% of readings from the past 12 months -- indicating a stronger-than-usual preference for calls over puts among options expiring in the next three months.

• AMBA is up 3.5% at $59.70, after Craig-Hallum initiated coverage on the security with a "buy" rating and a price target of $80 -- a 34% premium over today's price. Ambarella Inc has been trending sideways between $50 and $60 since September -- and offered a disappointing fourth-quarter outlook earlier this month -- but remains more than 16% higher year-to-date. Short interest accounts for over 45% of the stock's available float, or 6.5 days' worth of trading, at average volumes. But options traders have begun making bullish bets. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AMBA has a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.32 -- higher than 85% of readings taken in the last year.

• MCD is 0.8% higher at $118.64, not far off an all-time high of $118.90, seen last week. Guggenheim raised its price target on McDonald's Corporation to $127 from $125 this morning -- and if other analysts follow suit, MCD could enjoy added tailwinds. As it is, less than half the brokerages following MCD give it a "buy" or better rating, despite the stock outperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 12 percentage points over the last three months. Option traders have been surprisingly pessimistic, too. The equity's SOIR of 1.09 is in the 93rd percentile for the year, indicating that near-term option traders have rarely chosen puts over calls by a wider margin.