Analyst Downgrades: Nike Inc, Alphabet Inc, and Twitter Inc

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Nike Inc (NKE), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL), and Twitter Inc (TWTR)

Sep 28, 2016 at 9:21 AM

Analysts are weighing in on Dow stock Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), internet giant Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and social media concern Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on NKE, GOOGL, and TWTR.

NKE is set to slide 1.5% at the open after the shoe specialist reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that beat expectations, but future orders that disappointed. As a result, no fewer than eight brokerage firms cut their price targets on the stock, with FBR setting the lowest target, at $55 -- in line with last night's close of $55.34. Meanwhile, Citigroup diverged from the pack, raising its price target by $3 to $64. A recent rush of put buyers should be pleased if Nike Inc drops on the charts today. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.07 ranks near the top quartile of all readings taken in the past year. So far in 2016, NKE is already down 11.5%, making it the second-worst-performing Dow stock.

A downgrade to "underperform" from "neutral" at Wedbush has GOOGL down 0.8% in pre-market trading. The bearish note marks a sharp change for the stock, too, as the vast majority of analysts call it a "buy" or better. Alphabet Inc finished Tuesday at $810.73, up roughly 30% year-over-year, and notched a record high last week. Near-term option traders have been understandably call-heavy toward the stock of late. GOOGL's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.78 sits lower than 83% of the past year's readings.

TWTR received a downgrade to "underperform" at Mizuho, sending the shares 1.3% lower ahead of the bell. The stock has been soaring on M&A buzz for several days, adding 29% over the past week, as of Tuesday's close at $23.72. Still, analysts are mainly pessimistic toward the stock. Options traders appear less bullish than usual, too. At the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, Twitter Inc's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.40 -- while showing long calls more than doubling puts on an absolute basis -- ranks in the bearishly skewed 80th percentile of its annual range.

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