EXPE is gapping to the upside this time thanks to an earnings beat
Stocks are trading lower today despite this morning's strong GDP report. Cloud services provider LogMeIn Inc (NASDAQ:LOGM) has joined in on the sell-off, while oil-and-gas stock Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) and leisure name Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) are outperforming. We'll take a closer look at shares of LOGM, CHK, and EXPE below.
Analysts Ditch LOGM After Weak Outlook
LOGM stock is down 24.3% today to trade at $79.05, earlier hitting a two-year low of $78.34, after the company announced a disappointing full-year outlook. The forecast is overshadowing a second-quarter earnings beat. J.P. Morgan Securities weighed in by downgrading LogMeIn to "neutral" from "overweight" and dropped its price target to $96, while RBC lowered its rating to "sector perform" and reduced its own price target by $50 to $90. Still, there's theoretically room for more downgrades to pressure the security lower, since 90% of those in coverage had "strong buy" ratings coming into today.
CHK Shares Pop on Utica Shale Sale
Chesapeake Energy said it's selling its stake in Ohio's Utica shale for $2 billion in order to pay down its debt, and the stock is getting a shot in the arm as a result. CHK shares were last seen up 0.6% at $4.43, after topping out near the 20-day moving average earlier in the session. This trendline, sitting just below $5, also resides near the equity's year-over-year breakeven point.
SunTrust Robinson responded by lifting its price target to $6 from $5, one of the few who've shown bullish expectations for CHK stock. Specifically, only two of the 15 analysts tracking the shares say they're worth buying, and short interest represents almost 17% of the total float.
EXPE Takes Out Chart Resistance
EXPE shares are set for their first close above the long-term 320-day moving average since last October -- a trendline that's acted as a stiff ceiling all year -- last seen up 8.6% at $136.57. The upside gap comes thanks to a second-quarter earnings beat, which follows to two massive post-earnings sell-offs in recent quarters. A series of price-target hikes has ensued, with the highest mark coming from SunTrust Robinson at $180. Raymond James, meanwhile, upgraded the shares to "outperform" from "market perform."
As for options traders, many that had been speculating on EXPE may be hurting today, since put buying was very popular across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). In fact, the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 3.37 at those exchanges is in the 100th annual percentile.