Analysts and options traders alike are bullish on SPOT
The shares of Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) are down 4.2% to trade at $138.91 this morning, under pressure from news of increased competition in the streaming space. More specifically, on late Friday Billboard reported Amazon.com (AMZN) plans to launch a free, ad-supported music-streaming service. Amazon will be able to market its new offering on its Echo devices.
Prior to today, Spotify stock had added 40% from its Christmas Eve bottom of $103.29. However, the shares ran straight into resistance at their 160-day moving average, and today have breached short-term support at the $140 level. Should today's results hold, it will be SPOT's worst single-day drop since Jan. 3.
The sentiment among analysts is quite bullish. Of the 20 brokerages covering SPOT, 70% rate it a "buy" or better, with only one "sell" on the books. Plus, the security's consensus 12-month price target of $164.88 sits in territory not charted since early October.
It's a similar mood among short sellers, or lack thereof. Although short interest increased by 8% in the most recent reporting period, the 2.30 million shares sold short represents less than 5% of SPOT's total available float, indicating there's ample room aboard the bearish bandwagon.
The mood is also bullish in the options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), SPOT's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.20 indicates long calls have outnumbered puts by a more than 2-to-1 ratio.