Stocks appear to be stabilizing following yesterday's risk-off session. Among specific stocks in focus today are semiconductor name NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Ann Taylor parent Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA), and biotech Axovant Sciences Ltd (NASDAQ:AXON). Here's a closer look at what's moving shares of NVDA, ASNA, and AXON.
Shares of NVIDIA are almost 3% higher before the open, after the company announced it's struck a deal to supply artificial intelligence-centered chips to some of China's largest tech companies, including JD.com and Alibaba. The stock closed yesterday at $171, sporting a year-over-year lead of more than 163%. Just last Friday, in fact, the security hit a record high of $191.20.
Options traders -- who've been quite bullish on NVDA -- may want to consider short-term options. That's because the equity has a Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 35%, which is only 14 percentage points from a 52-week low. This means volatility expectations for near-term contracts are rather muted at the moment.
Ascena Retail Group has had a terrible year on the charts, sliding from a Dec. 9 annual high of $8.19 to yesterday's close of $2.17, while hitting an 18-year low of $1.65 in May. But a better-than-expected earnings report now has the shares pointed up 15% in pre-market trading. This sudden surge could deal a temporary blow to short sellers, who control 31.4% of the stock's float. At last night's close, this equated to 25 times the stock's average daily pace of trading.
Axovant Sciences is set to sell-off this morning, down 74% in electronic trading, after the company's Alzheimer's drug failed in a late-stage study. At $24.25, the shares were up 95% year-to-date, hitting a two-year high of $27.98 on Friday. It's likely today's pending price action will eventually be met with negative notes from analysts. At the moment, seven of eight covering brokerage firms rate AXON stock a "strong buy," and its average 12-month price target stands at $29.25.