Citigroup lifted its price target to "buy" from "sell"
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is rising this morning, after no less than four analysts chimed in with bull notes, including Citigroup. The analyst not only hiked its price target up to $100 from $35, it came in with a double upgrade, lifting MU to a "buy" from a "sell." Citigroup said it expects recovery in demand and pricing for Micron's DRAM chips. At last check, MU is up 4.7% to trade at $77.49.
This bullish sentiment comes just days ahead of Micron's fiscal first-quarter earnings report, due out after the close on Thursday, Jan. 7. From a historical perspective, MU tends to do well following these reports. In fact, the security was higher the session following five of its past eight reports, and averaged a next-day return of 7.8%, regardless of direction. This time around, the options pits are pricing in a slightly larger swing of 10.6%.
The equity has enjoyed a solid run up the charts ahead of the event, now trading just south of yesterday's 21-year highs. The $75 mark has kept a lid on this rally for the majority of December, though ascending support at the 30-day moving average eventually helped guide the security higher, and now, MU looks ready to push past this resistance for its highest close since 2000.
A look back on analyst sentiment shows 14 "buy" or better ratings on the table, compared to five "hold" or worse ratings coming into today. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $81.05 stood at a 9.5% premium to last night's close.
Options players have been incredibly bullish, too. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), MU sports a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.14, which stands higher than all other annual readings, this means these traders haven't been more bullish during the past 12 months.