Analyst Downgrades: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, GoPro Inc, and Shake Shack Inc

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN), tech stock GoPro Inc (GPRO), and burger joint Shake Shack Inc (SHAK)

Jan 6, 2017 at 10:08 AM

Analysts are weighing in on biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), tech stock GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO), and burger joint Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on REGN, GPRO, and SHAK.

REGN is down 6.4% at $356.46, after a U.S. judge banned the sales of Praluent, a cholesterol drug sold by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY), citing infringement on patents owned by Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN). While Regeneron and Sanofi said they would appeal, REGN stock was hit with price-target cuts from Baird, SunTrust Robinson, and RBC Capital -- to $369, $375, and $598, respectively. REGN shares are down 21.3% since their mid-November highs, though in the option pits, speculators have been buying to open calls over puts at a faster-than-usual clip. REGN's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 1.66 sits higher than 74% of all other readings taken in the last year.
GPRO is down 3.4% at $9.03, after a downgrade from Longbow to "underperform" from "neutral" -- with the brokerage firm calling a fourth-quarter sales miss a "near-certainty." This bearish analyst attention comes as the Consumer Electronics Show wraps up, where GoPro Inc announced new products and the relaunch of its Karma drone -- sparking a short-lived breakout for the shares. Nevertheless, GPRO is now down nearly 50% from its early October highs, and hit a record low of $8.54 in mid-December. Option bears are likely cheering today's drop, with GPRO's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.50 at the ISE/CBOE/PHLX docked at an annual peak.
SHAK is down 4.8% at $37.56, after Chief Financial Officer Jeff Uttz said he will retire in March. Barclays also cut its target price to $38 from $40 for Shake Shack Inc. SHAK still sits in positive territory year-over-year, with recent pullbacks finding support in the $35-$36 range -- home to the stock's November bull gap lows and 50-day moving average. And while short interest on SHAK dropped nearly 22% in the last two reporting periods, these bearish bets still account for a whopping 33.8% of SHAK's float, or 7.8 times the stock's average pace of trading.

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