Sears rallies after striking licensing deals for its Kenmore and DieHard brands
U.S. stocks are trading higher this afternoon, as the Dow enjoys a triple-digit lead at midday and the Nasdaq Composite looks to snap its three-day losing streak. Among the stocks in the spotlight today are cosmetic company e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF), e-commerce solutions stock Baozun Inc (NASDAQ:BZUN), and integrated retailer Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHLD). Here's a quick look at what's moving shares of ELF, BZUN, and SHLD.
ELF Drops on Insider Selling, Sluggish Sales Data
Shares of e.l.f. Beauty are down 15% to trade at $19.61, after a regulatory filing late Monday showed that ELF President and Chief Financial Officer John P. Bailey sold 6,159 shares at $24.72 each on August 17 -- the latest bout of insider selling for the bargain beauty company. Additionally, Nielsen data showing slower sales growth over the June-August period is cause for "consternation," per Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink.
ELF touched a record low of $19.30 earlier today, and is now down 32.2% year-to-date. Shorts are likely cheering today's decline, as short interest represents more than 33% of ELF's total available float, or 16.5 times the stock's average daily trading volume.
Baozun Stock Tanks On Weak Revenue Forecast
Baozun stock is down 22.5% to trade at $26.83, after providing a third-quarter revenue forecast that fell short of expectations -- although the Alibaba-backed Chinese e-commerce company reported better-than-expected second-quarter sales. Though still up 122.3% year-to-date, BZUN is poised to close below its 40-day moving average for the first time since April. The only analyst following BZUN rates it a "strong buy," leaving room for bearish notes to spark additional selling pressure in the near term.
Sears Expands Product Reach Through Licensing Deal, Shares Soar
Sears stock is up 4.9% to trade at $8.97, after entering two licensing agreements designed to broaden the reach of its DieHard and Kenmore brands internationally. Despite today's jump, SHLD remains pinned below its 200-day moving average and its year-to-date breakeven point at $9.29.
Option players have been upping the bullish ante lately, as evidenced by SHLD's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.45 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). In other words, traders have bought to open more than twice as many SHLD calls as they have puts during the past two weeks. What's more, this ratio sits in the 95th percentile of its annual range.