Today's stocks to watch include E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (DD), PMC-Sierra Inc (PMCS), and Illumina, Inc. (ILMN)
U.S. benchmarks are off to a tepid start, as traders take a breather after yesterday's breakout session. Today's equities in focus are blue-chip agricultural concern E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD), semiconductor company PMC-Sierra Inc (NASDAQ:PMCS), and genetic analysis firm Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN).
- DD is 11% higher at $57 this morning, after CEO Ella Kullman announced that she will retire later this month. Shares of E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co have had a rough year, dropping 25.5% since hitting a decade-plus high of $76.61 in mid-March. In light of today's surge, though, DuPont is trading above its 10-week moving average for the first time since early May. Option buyers have been betting bullishly on DD, as its 50-day call/put volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits at 3.71 -- in the 89th percentile of its annual range.
- PMCS is up 33% at $10.23, and just touched a nine-year high of $10.28, after Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) announced that it will acquire the company in a $2 billion all-cash deal (subscription required). SWKS will dish out $10.50 per share for PMC-Sierra Inc -- a 36.5% premium over PMCS' Monday close of $7.69. Both boards have approved the deal, which (pending regulatory and shareholder approval) is expected to close in the first half of 2016. Prior to this announcement, shares of PMCS had rallied on rumors of consolidation in the chipmaking realm, and the stock's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) sat at 77 -- in overbought territory.
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ILMN is down 15% at $138.99, and earlier touched an annual low of $130, after the company issued lackluster guidance. Illumina, Inc. received at least six price-target cuts in the wake of this news, the largest coming from Wedbush (to $150 from $250) and Goldman Sachs (to $137 from $230). In addition, Mizuho downgraded ILMN to "neutral" from "buy." Pessimism was building toward ILMN in the option pits, as its 10-day put/call volume ratio on the ISE/CBOE/PHLX stands at 2.18 -- in the 98th percentile of its annual range. However, more negative notes could be in store, as 12 out of 18 analysts offer up "strong buy" opinions.
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