Deutsche Bank is bearish on Costco after Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods
Analysts are weighing in on travel stock Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), e-commerce concern Wayfair Inc (NYSE:W), and bulk grocery issue Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on shares of TRIP, W, and COST.
Credit Suisse Downgrades Struggling TRIP Stock
Tripadvisor stock is down 2.4% at $37.00, after Credit Suisse downgraded the shares to "underperform" from "neutral," and slashed its price target to $34 from $40. The shares hit a four-year low of $36.85 on June 7, and are now down almost 43% year-over-year. This underperformance hasn't been missed by the broader analyst community, either. In fact, TRIP stock only has one "buy" rating, versus 16 "hold" or worse recommendations.
Wayfair Stock Pulling Back from New Highs
After more than doubling year-to-date, and tagging a record high of $76.54 on Friday, Wayfair stock is down 2.1% at $74.59, courtesy of a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" at Maxim Group. Plus, notorious short seller Citron Research again pounded the table on its bear call on the stock last week, after Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods. Options traders are certainly taking a cautious approach. For example, Wayfair has a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 3.21 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks in the 85th annual percentile. Said differently, put buying has been much more popular than normal in recent weeks.
COST Stock Downgraded After Falling Below 50-Day
Costco stock crashed last week as a result of Amazon's push into the grocery space, breaching its 50-day moving average for the first time since mid-April to close at $167.11. So far today, the shares have dropped 1.7% to trade at $164.35, after a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" at Deutsche Bank, which also cut its price target by $15 to $172. COST stock has been prone to big moves over the past year, especially compared to what options traders have priced in. This is evidenced by the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS), coming in at an elevated 78.