Analyst Downgrades: Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc, Micron Technology, Inc., and Paypal Holdings Inc

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX), Micron Technology, Inc. (MU), and Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL)

Mar 18, 2016 at 9:27 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), semiconductor producer Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), and payment processing stock Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on VRX, MU, and PYPL.

After plunging to a new five-year low of $29.52 on Thursday, continuing this week's steep losses, VRX appears ready to rebound today, up 2% ahead of the bell -- despite Guggenheim obliterating its price target on the stock, to $55 from $145. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc CEO Mike Pearson sent a memo to his employees Wednesday, according to Bloomberg, reassuring them that the company is not headed toward bankruptcy, and he is "working to extend the deadlines in our loan agreements" following reports that creditors are cracking down. "“Please know that I am working as hard as I can to turn things around, and I believe we will,” Pearson said in his note. A recent batch of call buyers is likely hoping that today will mark the start of a serious rebound for the shares, which closed at $29.69 on Thursday -- down a massive 57.3% on the week.

MU is set to drop 1.5% at the open, after Susquehanna downgraded the security to "neutral" from "positive," and cut its price target to $10 from $15. Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. have been slowly creeping higher since hitting a two-year low in January, but have struggled to top resistance in the $12 region -- home to their descending 60-day moving average. The company is set to report quarterly earnings at the end of this month, and it appears option traders are still eyeing a move to the upside, with more than two MU calls bought to open for each put on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) over the last 10 weeks. MU settled at $10.87 Thursday.

PYPL is down 1.2% in electronic trading, after closing at a near nine-month high of $39.93 Thursday, as Stifel cut its rating on the equity to "hold" from "buy." Paypal Holdings Inc is still ahead 10.3% in 2016, but short interest on the stock is on the rise, up nearly 54% over the past month. Option traders have been loading up on bullish bets, however, with PYPL's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX now up to 8.33.

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