Analyst Update: Tripadvisor Inc, FreightCar America, Inc., and Avinger Inc

Analysts are weighing in on travel stock Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), railcar manufacturer FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAIL) and medical device issue Avinger Inc (NASDAQ:AVGR). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on TRIP, RAIL, and AVGR.

• TRIP is off 1.8% at $68.46 following a price-target cut to $71 from $72 at Deutsche Bank, which weighed in on a different batch of travel concerns Tuesday. The shares are down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis, after a multi-week rally ran out of steam yesterday at the round $70 level and TRIP's 200-day moving average. Despite the stock's long-term struggles, options traders have taken a distinctly bullish stance, buying to open nearly five Tripadvisor Inc calls for each put over the last 10 days at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) -- a ratio higher than over three-fourths of the past year's readings.

• A downgrade to "hold" from "buy" at Stifel has RAIL trading 8.3% lower at $14.14. The brokerage firm cited FreightCar America, Inc.'s low margins and lack of diversification, noting it expects the company to underperform peers and struggle with profitability in coming years. RAIL has already given back more than 27% of its value in 2016, ushered lower by its 20-week moving average, and hit a record low of $12.85 in late June. It's little surprise that the brokerage bunch in general has had little love for the stock, with four out of five analysts maintaining a "hold" rating.

• AVGR received price-target cuts at Canaccord Genuity and Cowen -- to $12 and $15, respectively -- after the firm revealed a disappointing current-quarter and full-year outlook last night. The company said it expects revenue for the second quarter to be $4.7 million -- $1 million less than analysts were expecting -- and lowered its 2016 revenue range to $19-$23 million, well below the consensus view. The news has Avinger Inc down a whopping 39% at $6.97, fresh off a new all-time low of $6.51, and bringing its year-to-date loss to 69.3%. While the only two analysts with coverage on AVGR both sport a "strong buy" rating, short sellers have been piling on lately. In fact, these bearish bets surged by 32.7% during the most recent two-week reporting period, and now represent 12% of the stock's available float, or more than a week's worth of trading, at AVGR's average daily volume.

For other stocks in analysts' crosshairs, read Analyst Upgrades: Kite Pharma Inc, Pandora Media Inc, and Whiting Petroleum Corp and Analyst Downgrades: Yelp Inc, EMC Corporation, and Metlife Inc.