Analysts are weighing in on e-commerce titan Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), social media stock Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), and streaming content provider Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Here's what's moving shares of AMAZN, TWTR, and NFLX.
Amazon stock is again receiving bullish analyst attention, as this morning Deutsche Bank raised its price target to $1,425 from $1,200. AMZN shares hit a record high of $1,213.41 earlier this week, but closed yesterday at $1,161.27 as tech stocks sold off. Today, though, the equity is up 0.9% at $1,170.95, and has a year-to-date lead of 55%.
Meanwhile, options traders have remained bullish. This is according to the FAANG stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.20 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ, which ranks in the high 89th annual percentile. Said simply, call buying has been more popular than normal in recent weeks.
MKM Partners this morning upped its price target on Twitter stock to $21.50 from $18, predicting even more upside for the security, which was last seen trading at $21.05, up 1.1% today. TWTR yesterday found support from the 20-day moving average, which it hasn't closed below in over a month. Moreover, the shares have outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 16 percentage points over the past three months, and touched an annual high of $22.48 last Friday.
Looking in the options pits, total open interest on Twitter ranks in the top quartile of its annual range. But it remains a good time to target near-term options contracts, since TWTR's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 40% ranks in just the 20th annual percentile. This suggests volatility expectations for near-term contracts are unusually muted at the moment.
MKM Partners also weighed in on Netflix stock, upping its price target to $245 from $230. In response, the shares have popped 0.9% to trade at $189.91, as they try to get back to their Oct. 17 record peak of $204.38. NFLX is up 52% this year, but is still on pace to close below the 50-day moving average for the second straight day.
There are plenty of short sellers rooting for this trendline to serve as resistance, too. Currently, Netflix has a short-interest ratio of 5.60, meaning it would take over a week for these bears to cover their positions, based on average daily volumes.