Buzz Stocks: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries LTD (ADR), Juno Therapeutics Inc, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc

Today's stocks to watch in the news include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)

Jul 13, 2016 at 10:18 AM

U.S. stocks are struggling to hold early gains, following a record-setting start to the week. Among equities in focus today are biotech stocks Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA), Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX).

TEVA is up 7.2% at $56.36, after the company optimistically revised its second-quarter outlook, and issued an update on its $40.5 billion agreement to purchase Allergan plc Ordinary Shares' (NYSE:AGN) generic drug portfolio. Specifically, AGN extended the deadline to close the deal, as the pair await antitrust approval. TEVA now sits above its 80-day moving average, which has contained the shares since early February, but the stock is still down 14.4% so far this year. Option players seem to be growing more bullish, with TEVA's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting at 4.34, higher than 80% of all other readings from the past 12 months. Analysts also seem optimistic towards the stock, with 14 of 18 rating Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) a "buy" or better, and without a single "sell" in sight.

JUNO is up 22% at $31.91, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed a clinical hold on the trial of its cancer drug JCAR015, which was put in place last week after two patient deaths. The stock has pared about 50% of last Friday's 31.2% bear gap, and remains down 22.6% year-to-date. There are likely some option bulls cheering today's momentum, with Juno Therapeutics Inc's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 5.55 sitting higher than 81% of all other readings in the past year. Analysts are rewarding JUNO today, with Guggenheim and Barclays upping their price targets to $43 and $41, respectively.

VRX is up 5.6% at $24.52, despite what was once one of its largest shareholders, Sequoia Fund, announcing it had pulled out all of its investments in the company by mid-June. "Valeant was our largest position to start the year and its 80 percent decline through June 30 badly penalized our results," stated a letter from the fund's investment committee. In fact, the biotech stock hit a six-year low of $18.55 in late June, and is down more than 75% in 2016. However, VRX has picked up steam in July -- up more than 22% month-to-date -- and call players have been hot on the stock, with Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 2.10 sitting in the 98th percentile of its annual range. Short interest, however, is also popular with investors as of late, rising 34.5% over the last two reporting periods, to account for 10.3% of VRX's float.

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