Analyst Upgrades: Amazon.com, Inc., Costco Wholesale Corporation, and QUALCOMM, Inc.

Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), and QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM)

Sep 30, 2016 at 9:29 AM

Analysts are weighing in on retail stocks Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), as well as chipmaker QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AMZN, COST, and QCOM.

Guggenheim initiated coverage on AMZN with an upbeat "buy" rating and a $950 price target -- well into record-high territory. Speaking of which, Amazon.com, Inc. hit a fresh all-time peak of $837.50 on Thursday, before settling at $829.05, and the shares are pointed 0.4% higher ahead of the bell. The stock has been on a tear since early February, tapping one new high after another, with its year-to-date lead approaching 23%. Plus, the shares have been getting support from the rising 50-day moving average. In the options pits, traders keep betting on more gains, too. AMZN's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.29 across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 92% of the past year's readings.

COST reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, prompting Goldman Sachs to bump up its price target by $1 to $183 -- representing never-before-seen territory for the shares. The stock has had a choppy 2016 so far, but is sitting on a year-over-year lead, as of Thursday's close at $147.49. The shares are up another 2.9% in electronic trading, and an unwinding of skepticism among options traders in light of today's earnings news could send Costco Wholesale Corporation even higher. Specifically, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.45 sits just 2 percentage points from an annual put-skewed peak.

QCOM is set to add 1.3% at the open following an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at Mizuho Securities, as well as a price-target hike to $74 from $62 at Cowen and Company. This bullish brokerage attention follows Thursday's M&A buzz alleging QUALCOMM, Inc. could be looking to acquire sector peer NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) in a more than $30 billion deal. QCOM hit an annual high of $68.83 yesterday before finishing at $67.45 -- up 35% year-to-date. But the shares could be overdue for a breather after more than seven months of climbing the charts. The stock's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) checks in at 73 -- in overbought territory.

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