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Analyst Upgrades: Square Inc, Amazon.com, Inc., and AT&T Inc.

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Square Inc (SQ), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), and AT&T Inc. (T)

Jul 1, 2016 at 10:13 AM
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Analysts are weighing in on payment processor Square Inc (NYSE:SQ), e-tailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and telecommunications stock AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SQ, AMZN, and T.

  • SQ is up 2.8% at $9.30, following an upgrade by Wedbush to "neutral" from "underperform." The Jack Dorsey stock has had a rough go of it of late, with the shares down by nearly 30% year-to-date, falling sharply after a disappointing earnings report in May. Prior to today, Square Inc had underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 40 percentage points over the last 60 sessions. Short interest has surged 33.9% in the last reporting period, and now accounts for 11.3% of SQ's float -- an amount that would take traders 6.7 days of trading, at SQ's average daily volume, to cover.
  • AMZN is up 1.1% at $723.23, after revealing its second annual "Prime Day" will be held on July 12. AMZN also announced a deal with PBS to make Amazon.com, Inc. the exclusive streamer of popular PBS children's shows. Baird reiterated its "outperform" rating on the e-tail stock, while raising its price target to $800 from $780 -- in uncharted territory. AMZN has rallied more than 21% in the past three months, with the shares now up over 63% year-over-year. Analysts are positive towards AMZN, with 28 of 31 rating it a "buy" or better, and without a single "sell" to be found. For option buyers looking to get in on the AMZN action, now may be a good time. AMZN's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 22% sits lower than 91% of all other readings from the past year, implying near-term traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations, while AMZN's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a relatively high 89, indicating the stock has outpaced volatility expectations over the last 12 months.
  • T is up 0.6% at $43.45 – a new 14-year high -- after J.P. Morgan Securities raised its price target on the stock to $45. AT&T Inc. is up over 25% this year, even after its divorce from Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). Options players have been especially bullish towards the stock in recent weeks, with T's 50-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 3.76 sitting in the 94th percentile of its annual range.
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