Buzz Stocks: Starbucks Corporation, Paypal Holdings Inc, and Puma Biotechnology Inc

Today's stocks to watch in the news include Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI)

Jul 22, 2016 at 10:46 AM

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U.S. stocks are modestly lower, as stocks react to mixed earnings. Among equities in focus today are specialty coffee retailer Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), online payment firm Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), and biotech stock Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE:PBYI).

SBUX is down 0.4% at $57.40, after issuing disappointing quarterly sales figures and lowering its full-year sales forecast. No fewer than seven analysts issued price-target cuts in the wake of the earnings announcement. Despite the miss, Starbucks Corporation shares are still just above breakeven year-over-year, and after their most recent test of the $54 area, have consolidated into the $56-$57.50 range. Option buyers were hoping for a post-earnings breakout to the upside, given SBUX's 50-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 2.13 -- in the 95th percentile of its annual range.

PYPL is down 7.6% at $37.07, after reporting earnings and announcing a partnership with former rival Visa Inc (NYSE:V). Wells Fargo reacted by downgrading PYPL to "market perform" from "outperform." Paypal Holdings Inc is now down 3.4% year-over-year and back below its 10-week moving average, following today's bear gap and another unsuccessful test of the $40-$41 region. With 21 of 35 analysts rating currently PYPL a "buy" or better, and with only three "sell" or worse ratings on the books, there's plenty of room for downgrades to push the shares lower.

PBYI is up 18.1% at $40.76, after releasing promising five-year survival results for its Phase III trial of breast cancer drug neratinib, and submitting a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is welcome news for the biotech, which is sitting above $40 for the first time since late March. PBYI is down nearly 60% year-over-year, but is set to close the week atop its 20-week trendline for just the second time since April 2015. Some short sellers are likely kicking rocks today, after short interest rose more than 11.4% in the previous reporting period, leaving 30.2% of Puma Biotechnology Inc's float sold short -- which would take 7.7 days of trading to cover, at PBYI's average daily volume.

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