Analysts upwardly revised their ratings and price targets on NVDA, TSLA, and AAPL
Analysts are weighing in on semiconductor stock
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), electric auto maker
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), and tech giant
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on NVDA, TSLA, and AAPL.
- NVDA is 2.8% higher at $104.79, after a round of upbeat analyst attention. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and raised its price target to $120 from $110, citing "growing autonomous engagements with car makers and tier 1 suppliers" as a driver for future growth for C18 auto sales, with NVIDIA Corporation hosting several events at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week. Meanwhile, Raymond James raised its price target to $125 from $90. NVDA has given up 12% since notching an all-time high last week -- though Citi analyst Atif Malik called the pullback "healthy" -- but still sits up more than 300% from its February lows, and was the best-performing S&P 500 Index (SPX) component in 2016. In spite of NVDA's technical strength over the past 12 months, its 50-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits in the 72nd percentile of its annual range, suggesting an unusually strong bearish sentiment among option buyers over the past 10 weeks. If some of these bearish bets begin to unwind, it could add fuel to NVDA's fire.
- TSLA is up 0.8% at $218.81, ahead of today's much-anticipated Gigafactory tour -- going on just miles from the CES in Nevada -- and after Guggenheim initiated coverage with "buy" rating on Tesla Motors Inc shares. TSLA has shrugged off overnight losses stemming from a reported 9.4% drop in fourth-quarter deliveries, and the shares have rebounded more than 20% since falling to the $180 level in December. TSLA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.78 sits just 4 percentage points from an annual peak, indicating a stronger-than-usual put-bias among near-term option players. If these positions begin to unwind, it could result in tailwinds for TSLA.
- AAPL is up 0.2% at $116.33, after its own "buy" initiation at Guggenheim. The tech giant recently tested resistance at the $118 level for the second time since October, but was unable to notch a close above the critical region, home to AAPL's annual high. Today's bullish analyst attention is more of the same for Apple Inc., which is rated a "buy" or better by 27 of the 33 analysts weighing in. However, this excessive analyst optimism does make the stock vulnerable to downgrades, which could serve as further headwinds against AAPL.
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