Morgan Stanley sees record lows ahead for SNAP stock
Analysts are weighing in on telecom CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL), pharmaceutical stock Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ:OPK), and social media issue Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on CTL, OPK, and SNAP.
CenturyLink Stock Sinks to New Low on Earnings Miss, Cut Forecast
CenturyLink stock is down 7.8% to trade at $14.99, and hit a seven-year low of $14.75 earlier, after the telecom's third-quarter earnings and revenue missed estimates. The company also lowered its full-year outlook. As such, at least five brokerage firms cut their price targets on CTL stock, including Deutsche Bank, to $16 from $20.
CTL shares have been on a steady decline since touching an annual high of $27.61 on June 15. Plenty of shorts are likely cheering today's drop, as short interest grew 5.8% during the two most recent reporting periods, to 121.92 million shares. Short interest now accounts for 22.4% of the security's total available float, or 10.4 times the stock's average pace of trading. Today, however, CTL is on the short-sale restricted list.
Opko Health Shares Tank on Steeper-than-Expected Loss
Shares of Opko Health touched a four-year low of $5.37, and were last seen trading 16.7% lower at $5.39, after the company reported a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss and revenue that missed estimates. Following the results, Ladenburg Thalmann cut its price target to $14.50 from $16.
OPK shares have struggled in 2017, losing roughly 40% since the start of the year. The equity attempted to break free from its long-term decline in late June and September, but was met with resistance at the $7.50 level. In light of the stock's recent price action, options traders were upping the bearish ante ahead of the earnings event. OPK's 10-day put/call volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks in the 100th annual percentile, meaning options players haven't bought to open OPK puts relative to calls at a faster pace in the past 12 months.
Morgan Stanley Downgrades Snap After Third Straight Earnings Miss
Snap stock is down 4.6% to trade at $12.32, after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "equal weight," and lowered its price target to $11 from $14 -- in record-low territory -- following the company's third straight earnings miss yesterday. SNAP shares are now trading within a chip-shot of their mid-August all-time low of $11.28, and are pacing for their first close below their 10-week moving average since mid-September. The equity could sink even lower if more downgrades and price-target cuts come through, which could be likely seeing as six brokerage firms still deem SNAP stock a "buy" or "strong buy."