Analyst Upgrades: Facebook Inc, Xilinx, Inc., and Nike Inc

Analysts are weighing in on social media powerhouse Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), integrated circuit specialist Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX), and athletic apparel firm Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on FB, XLNX, and NKE.

• FB is 1.1% higher in pre-market trading, thanks to an upgrade to "buy" at Argus, and a price-target hike to $127 from $106 at Pivotal Research. The shares settled at $94.07 on Wednesday, with the $94-$95 region capping their upside once again, as it has in recent months. During this grind, bears have emerged. Short interest on Facebook Inc increased by over 37% during the two most recent reporting periods. If shorts continue to pile on, the equity could break down on the charts. 


• XLNX is looking at a 4.7% jump out of the gate, as the Street responds positively to the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings beat, and better-than-expected current-quarter sales forecast. Specifically, no fewer than 11 analysts upped their price targets on the stock. On the charts, the shares have bounced between $37 and $48 throughout 2015, settling last night at $45.38. In the options pits, traders are skeptical. Xilinx, Inc.'s 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 2.95 is only 3 percentage points from an annual high. This means put buying has been much more popular than normal. 


• NKE is still carrying the momentum of its impressive showing in the earnings booth from the end of last month. Today, the shares are set to open 0.7% higher after FBR, UBS, Canaccord Genuity, D.A. Davidson, and Cowen and Company all raised their price targets on the stock, with the latter two firms setting the bar the highest at $145. This marks a 15% premium to Wednesday's settlement at $125.84, and territory never before charted. No matter, as hitting new highs has been no problem for Nike Inc, which reached a record peak of $127.10 earlier this week. That's probably why 78% of analysts rate the equity a "buy" or better. Sparking the bullish attention today was the company's ambitious fiscal 2020 revenue target of $50 billion, announced last night.