Needham lifted its price target on Roku stock to a Street high of $255
The shares of video-streaming service Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) are bounding higher this morning, up 4.2% at $221.48, on the back of several analyst bull notes. Specifically, Needham lifted its price target to a Street high of $255 from $190 -- a roughly 20% premium to last night's close. The analyst cited strong growth during the pandemic, driving higher advertising demands as well as monetization. Deutsche Bank also chimed in, lifting its price target to $235 from $185 -- marking the second highest estimate on Wall Street.
Should these pre-market gains hold, ROKU could be ready to ring in its fourth consecutive day of all-time highs. The stock has been on a roll lately, with the recently supportive 10-day moving average pushing the equity past a ceiling at the $180 mark late last month, and the 40-day moving average catching pullbacks just below. For the year, ROKU is now up over 60%.
Some members of the brokerage bunch are still on the fence about ROKU. Of the 18 in coverage, six still say "hold" or worse, compared to 14 "buy" or better ratings. What's more, the 12-month consensus price target of $179.79 is an 18.8% discount to last night's close. This could leave the door wide open for even more upgrades, should the security continue this upward trajectory.
Options bulls are already on board, with 2.56 calls being picked up for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), during the past 10 weeks. This ratio stands higher than 76% of readings from the past year, too, suggesting a healthier-than-usual appetite for long calls of late.
For those wanting to speculate on the equity's next move, options look like a prudent play. This is per ROKU's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 55%, which sits in the lowest percentile of its annual range. This means option traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.