News that Pinterest is in talks to acquire VSCO is giving the equity a boost
The shares of Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) are up 1.6% at $78.94 this morning, following news that the social media platform is in talks to acquire popular photo app VSCO, according to the New York Times. While a potential price is still off the table, VSCO was last valued at $550 million, and has 100 million registered users, which includes over 2,000 paying subscribers.
PINS looks to be staging a strong bounce off its early March breather, with today's pop adding to these gains. In fact, last week PINS surged past its 20-day moving average, which applied solid pressure to the stock for most of last month, while a ceiling at the 50-day moving average was also toppled last Thursday. The equity is trading at its highest level in over a month today, and is up roughly 18% this year.
The majority of analysts covering PINS are optimistic on the equity, though it could benefit from additional upgrades. Of the 19 in coverage, six still consider the security a "hold," while the remainder say "buy" or better. The 12-month consensus price target of $89.29, meanwhile, is an 11.9% premium to current levels, and sits directly below the equity's record high of $89.90.
Now looks like an ideal time to speculate on Pinterest's next move with options. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 51% stands higher than all other readings from the past year, meaning option traders haven't priced in lower volatility expectations for PINS in the past 12 months. On top of this, its Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) ranks at 83 out of a possible 100. This implies the equity has tended to exceed these volatility expectations during this one-year time frame -- a boon for options buyers.