Kite Pharma, Planet Fitness, Shake Shack Downgraded

Shares of Kite Pharma, Planet Fitness, Shake Shack are under the gun from analysts

Josh Selway

Mar 2, 2017 at 9:11 AM

Analysts are weighing in on biotech stock Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE), workout center Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT), and burger joint Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on KITE, PLNT, and SHAK shares.

Kite Falls After Stock Offering, Downgrade

KITE is down 3.8% ahead of the open, after the company last night announced a public offering of 4.75 million common shares. What's more, Citigroup this morning downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy," though the brokerage firm raised its price target to $87 from $62. Kite Pharma Inc closed Wednesday at $79.62, up more than 51% this week thanks to positive CAR-T drug-trial results. Still, near-term options traders are unusually put-skewed, based on KITE's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.21, which is only 14 percentage points from a 12-month high.

Planet Fitness Forecast Falls Short

PLNT is down more than 5% in electronic trading, due to the company's disappointing full-year earnings forecast. Adding to the pain, Jefferies lowered its price target to $25, while Cowen cut its target to $23. Planet Fitness Inc shares settled at $21.85 last night, after hitting an all-time high of $22.13 earlier in the session. If PLNT fails to stop the bleeding, it could fall victim to additional bearish analyst attention, since all 10 covering brokerage firms currently deem it a "strong buy."

Shake Shack Sinks On Same-Store Sales Growth

SHAK is set to drop 3% this morning, as fourth-quarter same-store sales growth was less than Wall Street expected. In response, Stifel lowered its price target by $2 to $33. Shake Shack Inc, which closed Wednesday at $36.12, is already down 12% year-over-year, and options traders are betting on extended downside. For example, SHAK has a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.22 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks in the bearishly skewed 78th annual percentile.

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