Lowe's is also in focus after its CEO retired
The Dow is sporting a big lead today, thanks to positive China developments. Three stocks making notable moves are home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), meal delivery specialist Blue Apron Holdings Inc (NYSE:APRN), and payments processor Square Inc (NYSE:SQ). Here's what's moving shares of LOW, APRN, and SQ.
Lowe's Stock Rallies After CEO Quits
Shares of Lowe's have popped 5.7% to trade at $88.52, following news the company's CEO Robert Niblock is retiring. LOW is pacing for its first close atop the 20-day moving average since Feb.1, though it still has much work to do to revisit its all-time high near $109 from late January. The stock earlier today topped out near the $90.
One group of options traders has been betting heavily on an upside move from the shares. Specifically, almost 31,000 positions have been added at Lowe's July 85 during the past 10 days, easily making it home to peak open interest. Data confirms almost all these positions were bought to open, showing expectations for LOW to continue rallying above $85.
Blue Apron Shares Hit Another Low
Blue Apron stock is once again trading at record lows, earlier bottoming at $1.90, despite news of a partnership with Airbnb. APRN stock was last seen 3.7% lower at $1.97. It's been in a dramatic downtrend since opening for public trading last June at $10. Meanwhile, short interest continues to balloon, increasing 17.6% in the last two reporting periods. More than half the security's float is now sold short.
SQ Stock Finds Support From 20-Day
A price-target increase to $67 from $51 at Evercore ISI has SQ stock up 1% at $52.17 today. The brokerage firm expects the payment processor's new products to help it expand its market share, saying large sellers are likely to continue adopting Square.
The stock has outpaced the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 50 percentage points during the past three months, and a recent pullback from the March 21 record high of $58.45 found support at the 20-day moving average. Despite this promising technical setup, almost half the analysts covering Square still have just "hold" or "strong sell" ratings in place -- suggesting there's more room on the bullish bandwagon.