Analysts are weighing in on semiconductor stock Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), retailer Macy's Inc (NYSE:M), and electric car concern Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on AMD, M, TSLA.
AMD stock is down 4.8% at $11.26 this morning, after Morgan Stanley lowered its rating to "underweight" from "equal weight," and cut its price target to $8 from $11. Just last week shares of the chipmaker took a dive post-earnings, falling below the formerly supportive 200-day moving average. Advanced Micro Devices is now pacing for its lowest close since early June, and is nearing oversold territory. As of Friday's close, AMD had a 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 32, so a short-term bounce could be on the horizon.
Citigroup this morning downgraded Macy's stock to "sell" from "neutral," and lowered its price target to $16 from $21. The brokerage firm expects the struggling retailer to cut its dividend in order to pay down debt; as it stands now, the security has a dividend yield of 7.7%. In today's trading, M shares are down 2.1% at $19.27 -- a fresh seven-year low -- to bring their year-to-date deficit to 46.5%. In the meantime, short sellers continue to flock to the equity. In the last reporting period alone, short interest on Macy's jumped 22.5%.
Shares of Tesla are down 0.3% at $321.98, after UBS reiterated its "sell" rating on the stock and its $185 price target. Still, TSLA has so far held its position atop the 200-day moving average, a trendline it hasn't closed below since December. But short-term options traders are either expecting a pullback or bracing for one, based on the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.49. This reading ranks in the 70th annual percentile, meaning options traders targeting contracts that expire within three months are more put-skewed than normal.