The tech sector is behind the stock market's rally today
The Nasdaq touched an all-time high earlier thanks to strong tech earnings. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one stock trading higher amid the sector-wide tailwinds, and while machinery giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is also gaining today, t-shirt enthusiast Gildan Activewear Inc (NYSE:GIL) is sliding. We'll take a closer look at shares of AAPL, CAT, and GIL below.
Morgan Stanley Sees Almost 20% Upside For Apple Shares
Apple stock saw its price target raised to $232 from $214 earlier at Morgan Stanley, which is deep into record-high territory and marks the second bull note in the past two days. AAPL shares are already trading near all-time levels, last seen at $192.60, compared to a June 7 peak of $194.20. In fact, the equity is pacing for its highest close since that day. Calls are seeing heavy trading today, but the weekly 7/27 series is seeing a lot of the action, which expires before the company's earnings release after the close next Tuesday, July 31. More broadly speaking, near-term options traders are actually much less call-skewed than normal on AAPL, based on its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.97, which ranks in the 90th annual percentile.
Farmer Aid Package Pushes CAT Stock Higher
CAT is feeling tailwinds from reports that the Trump administration is planning billions of dollars in aid to farmers affected by the White House's imposed tariffs. The equity is up 1.3% at $138.09, but remains almost 20 points below its year-to-date breakeven level, and it's been trading below the 200-day moving average since mid-June.
Even so, options activity has remained bullish at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), where the security's 10-day call/put volume ratio comes in at 1.69, ranking in the 88th annual percentile, showing a strong demand for long calls over puts.
Gildan Stock Dips After Downgrade
Shares of GIL have fallen 4.8% to $26.84, earlier hitting a 52-week low of $26.25, after BofA-Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "buy." The majority of covering analysts still have "buy" or "strong buy" ratings on Gildan, however, even though it's down 17% year-to-date and has felt the pressure of its 50-day moving average in recent months. As such, traders should be cautious of additional bear notes coming through in the future.