AMZN, KMX, and JAZZ are among the stocks in the news today
Stocks are trading mixed, as traders look ahead to today's highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, among specific equities in focus are e-tailer
Amazon, used car stock
CarMax, and drugmaker
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ). Here's a quick roundup of the news that's moving AMZN stock, KMX stock, and JAZZ shares today.
AMZN Stock Lower on Jobs, Bezos Stake Sale
AMZN stock is trading down 0.5%% at $904.80, after the online retailer said it plans to create 30,000
part-time jobs over the next year -- 25,000 of which will be in its warehouses, and 5,000 of which will be in customer service. Separately, Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos said he will sell roughly $1 billion in AMZN shares annually to invest in his rocket company, Blue Origin. Today's negative price action is rare for the FANG stock, which has surged 21% year-to-date, and hit a record high of $923.72 yesterday on news the company won the rights to take a big stake in
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG). This helps explain why Morgan Stanley last night upped its price target to $975. Meanwhile, AMZN options in the front three-months series are more put-skewed than usual, per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio of 1.14 -- in the 65th annual percentile.
4Q Earnings Can't Lift KMX Stock
KMX shares are 2.6% lower out of the gate to trade at $55.20, even after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter
earnings. The stock has shed 14% year-to-date, and recently breached its 200-day moving average. KMX options traders were eyeing a positive earnings reaction, though. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), CarMax's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.42 ranks in the 72nd annual percentile, meaning calls have been bought to open over puts at a faster-than-usual clip in recent weeks.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals Shares Swing Higher on Patent Settlement
Shares of JAZZ are trading 7% higher at $149.79, after the drugmaker settled a
patent dispute with Hikma Pharmaceuticals over the latter's generic version of the former's narcolepsy drug, Xyrem. Analysts are waxing optimistic over the agreement, too, which limits when Hikma's generic version can be sold on the market, with Janney upgrading JAZZ stock to "buy" from "neutral,"and Deutsche Bank lifting its price target to $176 from $148 -- territory not charted since August 2015. On the flip side, Mizuho cut its rating to "neutral" from "buy" and its price target to $150 from $162. Longer term, Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc has added almost 51% from its early December lows south of $100, and short sellers have been throwing in the towel. Short interest dropped 24.7% in the two most recent reporting periods, and now accounts for just 1.7% of the stock's available float.