Analysts are weighing in on XPO, TWTR, and ANF.
U.S. stocks are mixed after the latest round of economic data, and ahead of tomorrow's market holiday. Among specific equities in focus today are transportation services provider XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE:XPO), social media concern Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), and retail stock Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on XPO, TWTR, and ANF.
- XPO is 6.5% higher at $45.33 -- fresh off a new annual high of $45.77-- thanks to a price-target hike to $54 (in uncharted territory) from $38 by Citigroup. XPO has been on a tear since the election, recently breaking through resistance at the $37-$38 level, and tacking on over 66% since the beginning of 2016. Short sellers may be sweating this upward momentum, with short interest up 5.3% over the last two reporting periods. Shorted shares now account for 19.7% of XPO Logistics Inc's float, which would take over three weeks of trading to cover, at the stock's average daily volume -- plenty of fuel for a short-covering rally.
- TWTR is down 2.4% at $18.19, amid reports of a downgrade to "negative" from "mixed" at OTR Global. This is just the latest speed bump for the social media stock, which has dropped more than 25% since its M&A-inspired run north of $25 in early October. Now seems like an opportune time for near-term traders to buy TWTR options, which sports a Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 48% -- in the bottom 7% of its annual range, indicating near-term traders are pricing in relatively muted volatility expectations. Further, Twitter Inc's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 74 indicates that TWTR has tended to exceed volatility expectations over the past 12 months.
- ANF is down 0.8% at $15.37, following a downgrade to "sell" from "hold" by Deutsche Bank, which also cut its price target to $13 from $14, calling ANF's pre-Thanksgiving rally "full of stuffing, not meat." ANF -- no stranger to analyst skepticism -- has lost over 53% of its value since its March highs, tagging a nearly eight-year low of $14 earlier this month. In the option pits, bearish betting has ramped up in recent weeks, with Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 1.73 sitting in the top quartile of its annual range.
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