All three names are on the short-sale restricted list today, though
The Dow is up triple digits, but some struggling FAANG stocks are keeping the Nasdaq in the red. Among other stocks making notable moves are drugmaker Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY), biotech name CohBar Inc (NASDAQ:CWBR), and software concern Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR). Here's a quick roundup of what's moving the shares of LLY, CWBR, and ALTR.
Diabetes Drug Data Powering LLY Stock Surge
Eli Lilly stock is up 4.8% to trade at $111.89, after the company's diabetes drug Trulicity significantly reduced the risk of heart-related in a large clinical trial. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald noted LLY's diabetes franchise is underappreciated and thinks concerns over competitive headwinds are overdone. Eli Lilly stock scored a record high of $116.61 back on Oct. 8, but promptly pulled back with the broad market sell-off. Nevertheless, the shares, which boast a 32% lead in 2018, appear to have found support right above the 80-day moving average.
Options buyers have been initiating bearish bets over bullish at an accelerated pace in the past two weeks. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.02 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is higher than 92% of all other readings from the past year.
Echoing that, LLY's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.25 indicates that put open interest handily exceeds call open interest among options expiring within three months. This SOIR stands in the 92nd percentile of its 12-month range, meaning near-term traders have rarely been more put-biased in the past year.
Suspended Liver Drug Study Buries CWBR
Earlier today, CohBar temporarily suspended its study for its NASH disease treatment. In response, CWBR stock is down 19% to trade at $3.46, one of the worst stocks on the Nasdaq today. The biotech earlier fell to an annual low of $2.55, and is now on track for its worst day ever. But today's downtrend is nothing new for the biotech, which has been under pressure from its descending 30-day moving average since August.
Datawatch Purchase Sinking ALTR
Altair Engineering stock has plunged 16.8% to trade at $31.52 -- also near the bottom of the Nasdaq today -- after the company announced it was buying data analytics services provider' Datawatch for $176 million. The drop today has ALTR breaching its 200-day moving average for the first time ever, and trading at its lowest point since an early-May bull gap. Overall though, the equity still boasts a 27% lead year-to-date.
Should this mark a period of renewed technical trouble, analysts may be forced to re-think their bullish stances. Of the seven brokerages covering ALTR, four rate it a "buy" or better, with zero "sells" on the books. In addition, the security's average 12-month price target of $42 is now a 33% premium to its current perch.