Analyst Update: Alphabet Inc, Nike Inc, and Amazon

Analysts are weighing in today on tech giant Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), athletic retailer Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), and Internet retail titan Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on GOOGL, NKE, and AMZN.

• GOOGL is pointed 0.4% higher ahead of the open, after Barron's published an article suggesting that Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube division is twice as valuable as competitor Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). GOOGL closed at $765.84 last Thursday, having lost a little ground since hitting its all-time high of $793.05 earlier this month, but the stock is still up more than 44% for the year. Yet, while 31 out of 33 analysts rate the security a "buy" or better, option traders have been making more bearish bets than usual. Specifically, GOOGL's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands at 0.77 -- higher than 83% of readings taken in the past year.

• NKE is headed 0.2% higher over its Thursday close of $63.18, thanks to a price-target hike to $77 from $75 at Argus. Since reporting quarterly earnings and undergoing a 2-for-1 split last week, the shares of Nike Inc have slipped on the charts. Still, the security has added more than 31% in 2015, earning it "buy" ratings from 83% of brokerages providing coverage. Option traders have been cheering NKE on, too. On the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.45 is higher than four-fifths of all comparable readings in the last 12 months.

• AMZN is set to pop 0.6% at the open today, after closing at $662.79 before the holiday -- not far off its all-time high of $684.82, tagged earlier this month. The e-tail giant just earned a price-target bump up to $797 -- far into never-before-seen territory -- at Axiom Capital Management. The company also reported impressive holiday numbers, including 3 million new Amazon Prime subscribers in the third week of December. Amazon.com, Inc. has more than doubled this year, outperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 19 percentage points over than last three months. Still, option traders aren't all sold on the security's prospects. AMZN has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.32 -- in the 78th annual percentile -- indicating near-term traders have shown an unusually heavy preference for puts over calls.