Piper Sandler upgraded PINS to "overweight" from "neutral"
Piper Sandler upgraded Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) to "overweight" from "neutral" this morning, and raised its price target to $30 from $25. The analyst in coverage noted the social media concern is set for margin expansion in 2023, regardless of the ad market's health. The brokerage also cited improving market share, as well as better user trends and demographics.
Analysts were skeptical of PINS coming into today, with 14 of the 18 in question rating it a tepid "hold." And though short interest is down 10.1% in the last two reporting periods, the 29.11 million shares sold short still account for 5% of the security's available float.
Though the stock was last seen up 8.4% at $25.60, shares are still struggling with a ceiling at the $26 level, with several rallies losing steam near that level over the past couple of months. The equity is today looking to move back above its 20-day moving average, though, after slipping below this trendline last week. Year-to-date, PINS is down more than 35%.
Short-term options traders are optimistic, though. Pinterest stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.39 ranks higher than only 5% of annual readings, meaning short-term traders have rarely been more call-biased.
Options bulls are doubling down today, with 17,000 calls exchanged so far, which is five times what's typically seen at this point, compared to just 2,957 puts. Most popular is the January 2023 28-strike call, followed by the 27-strike call in that same monthly series.
Now might be the perfect opportunity for investors to speculate on the equity's next move with options. This is per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 60%, which sits in the 8th percentile of its annual range, indicating premiums are affordably priced.