A number of analysts have also chimed in
The shares of VF Corp (NYSE:VFC) are up 5.4% at $47.00 this morning, following the North Face and Timberland parent's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. VFC posted profits of 45 cents on $2.82 billion in revenue, missing analysts' expectations due to a decline in sales the the Asia-Pacific region. However, the firm also hiked its full-year 2023 revenue forecast, expecting revenue to rise at least 7%, noting that the likelihood of additional Covid-19 lockdowns impacting production is low.
The stock is just one session removed from an eight year-low of $44.17. And though it's still sitting at a 39% year-to-date deficit, today's pop could put it back above recent overhead pressure at the 10-day moving average.
VFC has already been hit with a deluge of analyst notes. So far, seven analysts have cut their price targets, the lowest coming from Stifel, which slashed its price objective to $42 from $74. Deutsche Bank, on the other hand, raised its price target to $67 from $64.
A closer look at analyst sentiment shows nine of the 13 in coverage calling VFC a "hold" or worse, heading into today, compared to four "buy" or better ratings. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $63.11 is a 41.5% premium to last night's close.
Options traders, on the other hand, were extremely bearish ahead of the event. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), 1.81 puts were picked up for every call during the past 10 weeks, forming a ratio that sits higher than all other readings during the past year. This is especially notable considering how call-heavy these same traders were just a few months ago.
Short-term options traders have also been incredibly put-biased. This is per VFC's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.29, which sits in the 96th percentile of its 12-month range.