FIT has already shed 33% over the past six months
Shares of Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) are lower after the fitness device maker received a downgrade to "underweight" from "equal-weight," and a price-target cut by $1 to $4 from Morgan Stanley. The brokerage firm predicted Fitbit "will continue to struggle to stabilize the wearables business," and the new price target represents a discount of 21.6% to the stock's close on Thursday. FIT stock was trading down 7.8% at $4.70, at last glance.
FIT has shed 33% over the past six months, and just touched a fresh record low of $4.59. Since gapping lower in December, the equity's 10-week moving average has emerged as a ceiling.
In the options pits, sentiment has been more bearish than usual, with data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) showing FIT with a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.71. Though the ratio shows absolute calls still outnumber puts, it currently ranks in the 92nd percentile of the its annual range, suggesting puts have been purchased over calls at a faster-than-usual clip during the past two weeks.
Short interest fell 19% during the most recent reporting period on FIT, but still represents nearly 17% of the stock's total available float. Likewise, most analysts are already bearish toward the stock, with nine of the 11 following FIT sporting "hold" or worse ratings.