Analyst Upgrades: BlackBerry, Chesapeake Energy, Salesforce

Analysts are weighing in today on mobile phone maker BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), oil-and-gas issue Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), and cloud concern Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on BBRY, CHK, and CRM.

• BBRY rallied 6.4% last week to settle at $11.20, following a round of well-received fundamental developments. The equity is poised to extend these gains today in the wake of a price-target hike to $13 from $12 at TD Securities (although the brokerage firm maintained its tepid "hold" rating) and the welcoming of the newest member to its executive ranks. Should the stock maintain this upward momentum, another round of upwardly revised brokerage notes may be on the horizon, which could translate into a fresh wave of buying power. At present, all 20 analysts covering BlackBerry Ltd maintain a "hold" or worse suggestion, while the consensus 12-month price target of $10.79 stands at a discount to current trading levels.


• Bernstein raised its outlook on CHK to "outperform" from "market perform," and boosted its price target by $6 to $32, representing expected upside of nearly 38% to Friday's closing price of $23.21. This upbeat outlook is a bit surprising, given the stock's 9.5% year-to-date deficit -- and runs counter to CHK's withstanding sentiment backdrop. In fact, two-thirds of covering analysts have levied a "hold" or "strong sell" recommendation toward the stock. Elsewhere, CHK's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 2.05 ranks higher than all other readings taken in the past year. Simply stated, puts have been bought to open over calls on Chesapeake Energy Corporation at an annual-high clip in recent weeks.


• Ahead of CRM's turn in the earnings confessional this Wednesday evening, D.A. Davidson upped its price target on the shares to $65 from $60, and underscored its "neutral" rating. While the stock has jumped more than 25% from its mid-October low of $51.04 to its present perch at $63.91, CRM's historical post-earnings price action isn't so rosy. Over the past four quarters, specifically, the shares have averaged a loss of 2.2% in the session subsequent to reporting. Accordingly, option traders have taken the bearish route in recent weeks, as evidenced by Salesforce.com, inc.'s 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.89, which ranks in the 78th annual percentile. It's a sentiment shared outside of the options pits, as well, with short interest accounting for a healthy 6.5% of the stock's available float. Additionally, it would take more than eight sessions to cover these bearish bets, at CRM's average daily pace of trading.