Raymond James upgraded AMD to "strong buy" from "outperform"
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) has been sliding on the charts this month, after it was rejected by familiar pressure at the $125 level, as well as its 80-day moving average. However, Raymond James noted an attractive entry point for AMD, and sees potential for it to jump up to 80%. Despite supply chain concerns in the chip sector, the firm upgraded the stock to "strong buy" from "outperform" today.
Options traders have been eyeing AMD lately as well, as the stock has been a consistent name on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of names that have attracted the most weekly options volume in the last two weeks. During this time, 3,474,774 calls and 2,094,048 puts were exchanged. The weekly 4/22 100-strike call and April 100 call were the most popular during this period.
Earnings are coming up for the semiconductor staple as well. The company's first-quarter report is due out after the close on Tuesday, May 3. The options pits are pricing in a 14.5% swing ahead of the event, which is much larger than the 5.1% move the stock has averaged after its last eight reports. Of these reports, only three next-day sessions closed higher, including a 5.1% upswing this past February.
Today, AMD is up 1% to trade at $89.02, and looking to snap a three-day losing streak. It's also worth noting that the stock's relative strength index (RSI) of 22.4 sits firmly in "oversold" territory, meaning the stock could already be due for a short-term bounce.
