Today's stocks to watch in the news include Hershey Co (HSY), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), and Aerohive Networks Inc (HIVE)
U.S. stocks are trading higher today, as traders digest earnings from several big bank stocks and prepare for this afternoon's Fed speeches. Among specific equities in focus today are chocolate specialist Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY), semiconductor stock Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), and cloud firm Aerohive Networks Inc (NYSE:HIVE).
- HSY is up 0.6% at $96.25, after news broke that CEO John Bilbrey will step down next July, and the HSY board has already formed a committee to find an heir to the HSY throne. The chocolate stock is attempting to conquer its 30-day moving average for the first time since its August bear gap, when HSY shares fell sharply after a failed M&A attempt by Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ). In the option pits, traders have been especially bearish towards HSY during the past several weeks, with HSY's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 3.76 sitting in the top 10% of all other readings from the past year.
- AMD is trading up 7.1% at $6.95, after reaching a deal to provide chips for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (NYSE:BABA) new cloud services. AMD has had a standout year, with the shares up over 250% in the last 12 months, and just yesterday AMD bounced off its 80-day moving average for the second time in a month. Despite its technical strength, short sellers have been piling on to AMD, with short interest up almost 32% in the last two reporting periods.
- HIVE is plummeting, down 20.6% at $4.47, after issuing disappointing preliminary third-quarter results and a pessimistic fourth-quarter forecast. As a result, HIVE has been hit by analysts, receiving downgrades to "neutral" and "hold" from "buy" by Buckingham and Wunderlich, respectively, along with no fewer than four price-target cuts. HIVE has been on a steady run downward since peaking at $7.45 in late July -- an area that also limited the stock's 2015 momentum. Still, more analysts could follow suit, with five out of six offering up "buy" or better ratings heading into today's news.
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