J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded the stock to "outperform"
Shipping name FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) entered the earnings confessional last night, posting fiscal fourth-quarter profits and revenue that trounced analysts' expectations. The firm cited a lockdown-related spike in home deliveries and said it is currently contending with a flood of e-commerce shipment tied to the coronavirus. As a result FDX is up 10.9% to trade at $159.53.
The news sparked a deluge of bull notes. No less than 10 analysts lifted their price targets. The highest came from J.P. Morgan Securities to $188 from $145. The brokerage firm also upgraded FDX to "overweight" from "neutral."
Coming into today, FDX's 12-month consensus price target of $162.64 sat at just a 3.8% premium to it's Tuesday close, suggesting the equity was already ripe for a round of price-target hikes. There could be room for upgrades, though. Eleven of the 19 covering FedEx called it a "hold," compared to just eight "buy" or better ratings.
Options traders, meanwhile, have been quite call-heavy, with 19,215 calls across the tape in the past 10 days, compared to 10,928 puts. Meanwhile, FedEx's Schaeffer's open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.74 sits higher than just 6% of readings from the past year, suggesting short-term options players have rarely been more call-biased.
Today, FedEx stock is set to topple its 200-day moving average -- a trendline it's been butting up against for the better part of two years. From below, the 40-day moving average is providing some solid support on the charts, while the $130 mark has also emerged as a floor. On top of this, FDX is set to climb back atop its year-to-date breakeven near the $150 level.