Analyst Update: Qualys Inc, Yelp Inc, and Expedia Inc

Analysts revised their ratings and price targets on Qualys Inc (NASDAQ:QLYS), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Josh Selway

Feb 9, 2016 at 1:41 PM

Analysts are weighing in on cloud security stock Qualys Inc (NASDAQ:QLYS), consumer review site Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), and online travel portal Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on QLYS, YELP, and EXPE.

QLYS is selling off following its disappointing earnings report and current-quarter profit forecast. The stock earlier struck a two-year low of $17.24, and was last seen down 21.1% at $17.75. Not helping matters is a round of bearish analyst notes, including a downgrade to "neutral" at D.A. Davidson, which also lowered its price target by $26 to $25. (On the other hand, Credit Suisse assumed coverage with an upbeat "outperform" rating and $35 price target.) Coming into today, Qualys Inc was already an underperformer on the charts, trailing the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 31 percentage points during the past three months. In the meantime, speculators have grown unusually put-skewed. This is according to QLYS' Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which at 1.07 is just 4 percentage points from an annual high.

YELP continues to fall after yesterday's earnings debacle. The shares have shed another 3.5% to $15.50, earlier hitting a new three-year low of $15.13, as analysts begin to weigh in. A handful of brokerage firms lowered their expectations for Yelp Inc -- most notably Susquehanna, which trimmed its price target to $16 from $20. While at least 16 others cut their price targets, B. Riley broke from the pack, upping its assessment to "neutral" from "sell." In fact, despite the stock's 66% 12-month decline, there are still eight brokerage firms on Wall Street that deem it a "buy" or better. As such, YELP could face additional headwinds if these holdouts start throwing in the towel.

EXPE has lost 1.5% today at $90.15, following price-target cuts at Benchmark (to $125) and Barclays (to $120). The shares are now on pace to close below their 120-week moving average for the first time since July 2009. Looking at the options pits, traders have been placing bullish bets ahead of the company's quarterly report tomorrow evening. Specifically, Expedia Inc's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio stands at 2.81 -- in the 88th percentile of its annual range.

For other stocks in analysts' crosshairs, read Analyst Upgrades: Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Hasbro, Inc., and Monsanto Company and Analyst Downgrades: Tesla Motors Inc, Sunedison Inc, and Rio Tinto plc (ADR).

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