Today's stocks to watch in the news include Airgain Inc (AIRG), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), and Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc (ADMS)
Stocks are set to start the day on a positive note following the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) latest policy decision. Among specific equities in focus today are wireless networking stock Airgain Inc (NASDAQ:AIRG), Dow component Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and drugmaker Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ADMS).
- AIRG is set to slide 4% at the open after the company last night announced quarterly earnings for the first time since it began trading publicly in mid-August. Wunderlich chimed in this morning, lowering its rating on the stock to "hold" from "buy," while Northland raised its price target to $20 from $15. As of last night's close at $16.12, Airgain Inc had more than doubled from its IPO price of $8 -- an impressive gain for just over a month of trading, though not quite in line with another recent IPO outperformer.
- MSFT is 1.4% higher in pre-market trading after increasing its quarterly dividend by 8%, to 39 cents per share. The company also announced a $40 billion buyback program. Microsoft Corporation is up just 2.4% year-to-date, as of Tuesday's close at $56.81, but the shares have spent the last two months within striking distance of their December 1999 record highs just south of $60. Plus, the $56 level has limited the stock's most recent pullbacks. Options traders don't appear totally convinced that a breakout is ahead for MSFT, however. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.65 sits higher than 80% of the past year's readings.
- ADMS is up 6.6% ahead of the bell on news its treatment for a movement disorder related to Parkinson's disease met its primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial. Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc has had a choppy year since pulling back from its huge late-December bull gap, down 36% in 2016 as of its Tuesday finish at $18.09. All seven analysts tracking the shares currently hold a "strong buy" rating on ADMS, but traders have taken a more pessimistic approach. Specifically, short interest on the stock surged by 43% during the two most recent reporting periods, and now accounts for nearly 23% of ADMS' total float. At the equity's average daily volumes, it would take almost three weeks to cover all these bearish bets.
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