Analysts are also rushing in with bull notes this morning
Social media heavyweight Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP) stepped into the earnings confessional last night with first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates, noting its improved Android version helped attract more users. Plus, the company is expecting to see an 80% rise in revenue for the second quarter, as Covid-19 curbs fade. The brokerage bunch is already responding -- three analysts have lifted their price targets, with the highest jump coming from Cowen and Company to $90. MKM Partners, however, slashed its price objective to $81.
The earnings beat and mostly positive round of analyst notes are giving SNAP a boost. The stock was last seen up 6.4% to trade at $60.72, ready to break a five-day losing streak. The security's 100-day moving average emerged as support for this recent pullback, though the $64 level still looms as potential area of rejection on the charts. Year-over-year, SNAP sports an impressive 281.4% gain.
Analysts are mostly optimistic on SNAP. Of the 29 in coverage, 24 say "buy" or better, while five say "hold" or worse. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $76.68 is a 24% premium to current levels.
Short sellers have slowly started to hit the exits. Short interest dropped 2% in the most recent reporting period, though a further unwinding of pessimism could put additional winds at Snap stock's back. The 60.33 million shares sold short represent 6.4% of the equity's available float, and would take over two days to cover at its average daily pace of trading.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 116,000 calls have already crossed the tape, which is five times the intraday average, and nearly double the number of puts traded. The weekly and expiring 4/23 65-strike call is the most popular, followed by the 62-strike call in the same series, with positions being opened at the latter.
What's more, the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at 91 out of 100, indicating Snap stock has exceeded volatility expectations during the past 12 months -- a boon for options buyers.