Analyst Update: Bob Evans Farms, Mobileye NV, Cepheid

Analysts are weighing in today on restaurant interest Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ:BOBE), software developer Mobileye NV (NYSE:MBLY), and molecular diagnostics company Cepheid (NASDAQ:CPHD). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on BOBE, MBLY, and CPHD.

• BOBE is 5.1% lower at $37.85 today, just off a three-year low of $36.56, after reporting quarterly earnings. While earnings per share beat estimates on the Street, Bob Evans Farms Inc's revised full-year revenue projections disappointed, prompting Oppenheimer to lower its price target on the stock to $45 from $50. BOBE has been struggling for most of this year, dropping hard after hitting an all-time high of $60.15 in early March. Currently 10.6% of the stock's available float is sold short -- accounting for nearly 11 days of trading, at BOBE's typical volumes. But near-term options traders might be kicking rocks today. The stock has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.55 -- lower than 90% of comparable readings from the past year, suggesting short-term traders are more call-heavy than usual.

• Analysts at Evercore ISI began coverage on MBLY, giving the stock a "buy" rating and calling it the dominant player in the field. As a result, the shares have popped 3.2% higher, last seen trading at $44.87. Mobileye NV has spent the past few months bouncing between support at $42 and resistance at $50, even after reporting strong quarterly earnings in early November. Nine out of 11 analysts give it "buy" rating or better, but short interest on MBLY has increased by 21.6% over the last two reporting periods, and now accounts for almost a quarter of the stock's total float. At MBLY's average pace of trading , it would take 11 days to buy back all of those short positions -- action that could easily send the shares higher.

• CPHD is trading 5% lower, last seen at $33.45, due to a downgrade to "market perform" at Wells Fargo. Cepheid yesterday cut its 2017 gross margin estimates, and reaffirmed its 2015 outlook. The stock has had a roller coaster of a year on the charts, hitting an all-time high of $63.69 in July, then dipping to a nearly three-year low of $29.21 by late October, after cutting its quarterly revenue guidance. Over the past 60 days, Cepheid has underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 34 percentage points. And the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is 24.5 -- indicating that nearly 25 puts have been purchased for each call during the past two weeks. Still, 12 analysts following Cepheid give it a "strong buy" rating, compared to five "holds," leaving plenty of room for further downgrades.