Facebook Inc (FB) has been gaining ground recently
After churning between $80 and $83 for a little over a month, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has broken out to all-time highs in the past few days, adding 7.3% week-to-date. Today, the shares are 0.7% higher at $88.49, after touching a record peak of $89.25 earlier. The upward momentum is likely pleasing short-term option traders; FB's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is only 1 percentage point from an annual call-skewed high.
It was announced today that HBO will air the first episodes of two new shows, "Ballers" and "The Brink," for
free on the social media site. Elsewhere, a report by Citigroup claims the stock is still under-owned, compared to some of its big-cap tech peers. "We believe Facebook and Google may have the greatest near-term opportunity among large-cap Internet," said an analyst. On top of all of this, RBC analyst Mark Mahaney recently waxed optimistic on FB's video and mobile potential on CNBC.
It's no secret that analysts are fully behind the security. Currently, 25 of 27 brokerage firms say it's a "buy" or better. Moreover, FB's average 12-month price target stands at $97.10 -- representing 9.7% upside for the stock, and, of course, all-time high territory. In fact, SocGen just upped its price target to $68 from $65, though the firm still has a "sell" recommendation on the stock.
Part of Facebook Inc's (NASDAQ:FB) recent surge may be from short sellers throwing in the towel. During the two most recent reporting periods, short interest on the equity fell by over 25%.