Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), Lululemon Athletica inc. (LULU), and Tailored Brands Inc (TLRD)
Analysts are weighing in on semiconductor stock
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), as well as apparel retailers
Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) and
Tailored Brands Inc (NYSE:TLRD). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on AMD, LULU, and TLRD.
- An upgrade to "buy" at BofA-Merrill Lynch -- which also raised its price target to $12 from $5 -- has AMD up 4.1% ahead of the bell, and on pace to open at a fresh six-year high, just shy of the round $10 mark. "In our view, AMD is the only vendor that can challenge both INTC in PCs/servers and NVDA in gaming/pro-graphics/deep learning markets," the brokerage firm noted. The stock could stand to benefit from more attention of this kind. After all, despite more than tripling on the charts in 2016 at $9.56, 12 out of 19 analysts still rate Advances Micro Devices, Inc. a "hold" or worse. On the other hand, call buying has been popular in AMD's options pits, suggesting options traders tilt in a more bullish direction.
- LULU is booming 16.8% higher in electronic trading following the company's strong third-quarter earnings report. Analysts have been quick to weigh in on the news, with Mizuho raising its rating to "buy" from "neutral," and Evercore ISI offering an upgrade to "buy" from "sell." The brokerage firms were also among at least 12 to increase their price targets on the stock, with Susquehanna setting the highest bar, at $82 -- just shy of record-high territory, and a 37% premium over Wednesday's close at $59.84. Should pre-market gains materialize, Lululemon Athletica inc. could finally break out of the sideways pattern it's been stuck in since early October. That seems to be what options traders have been hoping for, too. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.16 sits in the top quartile of its annual range.
- A well-received earnings result earned TLRD an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at Mizuho, which also raised its price target to $25 from $17. Deutsche Bank and Wunderlich offered up price-target hikes, as well, to $22 and $30, respectively. Tailored Brands Inc has tacked on a whopping 25.2% ahead of the open, on pace to notch a new annual high, but still miles short of reaching its Nov. 2015 pre-bear gap levels. Still, TLRD is already up 29% year-to-date, as of last night's finish at $18.93, and the shares could get an extra boost should option bears hit the exits. Over the past 10 weeks at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, speculators have purchased 8.19 puts for each call. Moreover, the resulting put/call volume ratio ranks just 5 percentage points from a 12-month high.
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