Tech earnings are drawing the attention of analysts today, with a number of brokerages weighing in FAANG stocks Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), as well as Dow component Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on shares of GOOGL, AMZN, and INTC.
Alphabet stock is up 6.3% to trade at $1,053.72 -- touching a record high of $1,054.50 earlier, and the company toppling the $700 billion market cap for the first time ever -- after the Google parent reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue, the sixth straight quarter its topped revenue forecasts. As such, at least 14 brokerage firms raised their price targets, including Morgan Stanley, to $1,150 from $1,050, saying the company "posted [its] biggest beat in 10 years and is looking 20 years young."
Today's positive price action is nothing new, considering GOOGL shares have added 32.9% this year and roughly 8% in October alone. Ahead of last night's earnings event, options traders had been upping the bullish ante on GOOGL. The security's 10-day call/put volume ratio on the International Securities Options Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands at 1.41 -- good enough to rank in the 75th annual percentile. In other words, options traders have bought to open calls relative to puts at an unusual clip in the past two weeks.
Amazon shares are also climbing the charts this morning, last seen up 10.5% at $1,074.68, after the online retail giant's third-quarter earnings and revenue topped forecasts. Following the earnings beat, Monness Crespi Hardt and Raymond James upgraded the security to "buy" and "outperform," respectively. At least 15 other brokerage firms boosted their AMZN price targets, including Wells Fargo to $1,430 from $1,400 -- in uncharted territory.
After topping out at $1,083.31 in late July, AMZN shares pulled back to find support from their trusty 160-day moving average, but have now left this rising trendline in the dust and has brought its year-to-date lead to 43.3%. In the options pits, near-term traders have been rather call-heavy. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.98 sits in just the 12th annual percentile, indicating short-term options players have rarely been more call-biased during the past 12 months.
Another stock surging on a third-quarter earnings and revenue beat is Intel, last seen trading 4.9% higher at $43.36, earlier hitting a fresh 17-year high of $43.94. The company also raised its full-year forecast, and as a result, a raft of brokerage firms upped their price targets, including B. Riley and J.P. Morgan Securities, each to $53 -- territory not charted since September 2000, and expected upside of 22% from the stock's current perch.
The semiconductor stock has exploded since late August, climbing roughly 26% in the past two months, thanks to steady support from its 10-day moving average. A short squeeze could propel the shares even higher. Short interest on INTC grew 13.7% during the most recent reporting period to 131.85 million shares. At the equity's average daily trading volume, it would take more than a week to cover these shorted shares.