Exane BNP Paribas and Raymond James cut their price targets on MU
Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) stock is 3.5% lower before the open, after a double downgrade at Exane BNP Paribas. The analyst downgraded the chip stock to "underperform" from "outperform" and slashed its price objective from $140 down to $67. Meanwhile, Raymond James issued a more modest price-target cut to $125 from $160.
Both bear notes follow MU's summer slump, as it has underperformed its semiconductor sector peers since touching a June 18, all-time high of $157.53. The security began to fall after its earnings report in June, and is down 31.1% this quarter. Though it remains 6.2% higher in 2024, that's still below the 33.5% year-to-date gain for the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH).
Coming into today, covering brokerages were overwhelmingly bullish on MU. Of the 28 in coverage, just one rated the stock a "hold," while 25 recommended a "strong buy," and two said "buy." Plus, the 12-month average price target of $167.48 is a 91% premium to last night's close. This means more downgrades and/or price-target cuts could be in store.
Micron Technology stock could keep falling if short-term options traders change their tune. This is per the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.40 that sits higher than just 2% of annual readings, indicating short-term options traders have been unusually optimistic.