Buzz Stocks: Netflix, Inc., The Medicines Company, and Phillips 66

Today's stocks to watch include Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), The Medicines Company (MDCO), and Phillips 66 (PSX)

Aug 31, 2015 at 9:40 AM

The Dow is lower in early action, due to more nerve-rattling developments in China and remarks made from Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer. Among the equities in focus are streaming media giant Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), global pharmaceutical firm The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:MDCO), and oil refiner Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX).

NFLX is 2.1% lower at $115.05, on news that it decided not to renew its deal with Epix. The decision was made so Netflix, Inc. can focus on producing its own exclusive and original content. With Hulu stepping in and taking over the deal with Epix, NFLX is going to lose the likes of Hunger Games: Catching Fire, World War Z, and Transformers: Age of Extinction. NFLX had quite the roller coaster ride last week, thanks to a rather rough three-day stretch. Despite this technical rough patch, the stock was able to reclaim its 10-week moving average -- a trendline that has supported NFLX since the middle of April -- and end the week comfortably higher.

MDCO is up 16.1% at $39.14, and just notched an annual high of $39.99, thanks to encouraging study results for its potential cholesterol drug. The Medicines Company and partner Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) announced that their experimental treatment ALN-PCSsc lowered bad cholesterol by as much as 83%, compared to results from a competing class of drugs. This good news earned MDCO a trio of price-target elevations from brokerages, with Leerink's the most ambitious at $53 (from $40) -- in uncharted territory. Technically, the stock could find a speed bump in the $40 area, which stifled its early 2014 surge, but today's higher open and a potential short-covering rally could help. Short interest represents nearly 13 sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at MDCO's average pace of trading.
PSX is 3.1% higher at $79.73, after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) took a $4.48 billion stake in the oil company. The stake was revealed late Friday, and accounts for nearly 58 million shares, or 10% of PSX. Phillips 66's option bears could get spooked. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 9.39 ranks in the 98th percentile of its annual range.

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