The company also provided a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue forecast
The shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ:MRVL) are down 4.3% at $43.56 at last check, after the semiconductor concern reported a third-quarter revenue miss and bleak fourth-quarter revenue outlook. To follow, Summit downgraded MRVL to "hold" from "buy," while no fewer than four other analysts chimed in with price-target hikes.
After bouncing off the 120-day moving average at the start of November, MRVL enjoyed a steadily climb on the charts that culminated in a Dec. 1 record high of $47.21. Tapering off since then, today's drop has the stock on track for its third-straight day of losses.
Heading into today, most of the brokerage bunch leaned bullish on Marvell stock, with 17 of the 22 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $49.75 is a 14.3% premium to current levels.
This sentiment has echoed in the options pits for the past 10 weeks, as per MRVL's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 8.19 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 94% of readings from the past year, showing long calls being picked up at a much faster-than-usual clip.
Today, MRVL options are taking off, with 42,000 calls and 17,000 puts across the tape so far -- four times what's typically seen at this point. The January 2021 50-strike call is seeing the most action, while also pulling in the highest amount of open interest this afternoon.