Today's stocks to watch include Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), Rovi Corporation (ROVI), and Alere Inc (ALR)
U.S. stocks are down after disappointing earnings and economic data. Among equities in focus today are oil giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), entertainment technology company Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI), and diagnostic technology company Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR).
- XOM is up 1.1% at $89.09. Even after reporting its lowest quarterly profit since 1999 -- attributed to lower oil prices -- the results still came in ahead of analyst expectations. Exxon Mobil Corporation touched a year-to-date high of $89.78 in early trading -- within a point of a new annual peak. Bearish sentiment has been prevalent on the stock as of late, with its 50-day put/call volume ratio of 2.61 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting in the 95th percentile of its annual range. However, short interest in the stock is down 5.5% in the last reporting period, and represents just 1% of the equity's total available float.
- ROVI initially jumped as high as $19.61, after confirming plans to acquire TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO), which has been circling the rumor mill for more than a month. However, ROVI shares have since turned 0.2% lower to $17.32. The stock has increased over 116% since its decade-plus low in October, but the stock is now struggling to fill its April 1 bear gap, sparked by news of a patent-infringement suit against Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Rovi Corporation's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at 2.13, higher than 94% of all other readings from the past year, suggesting a rather strong put bias among near-term option traders. Short interest has also risen 25.7% within the past reporting period, echoing the growing pessimism.
- ALR shares are down 9.1% at $39.55, after the firm's board rejected Abbott Laboratories' (NYSE:ABT) request to cancel its upcoming merger. ABT recently acquired St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) for $25 billion, but says it is prepared to uphold its agreement with both STJ and ALR. Alere Inc shares rallied after the original merger plans were announced in February, but have since stair-stepped lower amid takeover and legal concerns. ALR has underperformed the greater S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 23 percentage points over the last 40 sessions, and the stock's 14-day Relative Strength Index of 26 indicates the stock was already in "oversold" territory prior to today.
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