Stocks are trading mixed this afternoon, amid concerns about the Senate's tax plan. Among the stocks making big movesare telecom Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR), specialized manufacturer Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL), and pharmaceutical concern Puma Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:PBYI). Here's a quick look at what's moving shares of FTR, ESL, and PBYI.
Frontier Communications stock is among the worst of Nasdaq, after receiving a downgrade from BofA Merrill to "underperform" from "neutral," and a scathing price-target cut -- to $4 from $19, in uncharted territory. At last check, FTR stock was trading down 13% at $6.94, just off a fresh record low of $6.72. FTR is down 86% on the year, and has been pressured lower by its 40-day moving average, which has acted as resistance since late-January.
What's more,short interest on FTR fell nearly 4% during the last two reporting periods, but still represents more than 33% of the stock's total available float. At FTR's average daily trading volume, it would take more than 13 days for the shorts to cover their bearish bets. Today, however, Frontier shares are on the short-sale restricted (SSR) list.
ESL stock is among the worst on the NYSE, after Esterline reported a fiscal fourth-quarter earnings miss and cut its full-year outlook. The stock was trading down 20.2% at $71.05, at last check, and is currently down 20% year-to-date.
Prior to the shares' decline today, short-term options traders were pouncing on ESL puts. The security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.08 ranks in the 90th percentile of its annual range, suggesting near-term traders have rarely been more put-heavy in the past 12 months.
Puma Biotechnology stock has joined FTR on the Worst of the Nasdaq list, after the firm reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss. The drug stock has gapped 20% lower to $102.15, breaching its recently supportive 20-day moving average. However, contrary to its recent drops, PBYI is still up more than 200% year-to-date, and just touched a two-year high on Wednesday.
Analysts were positive toward Puma stock before earnings, with seven of the eight following PBYI sporting "strong buy" recommendations. Furthermore, short interest fell 55% during the past two reporting periods, but still represents nearly 13% of the stock's available float. But, like FTR and ESL, PBYI stock is on the SSR list today.