U.S. stocks are sharply lower this afternoon, as the major equity indexes appear on track for their worst weekly losses in two years. Among the stocks making notable moves today are tech stock Impinj Inc (NASDAQ:PI), drug stock Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX), and GoPro (GPRO) supplier Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA). Here's a closer look at what's moving shares of PI, VKTX, and AMBA today.
Impinj stock is down an astounding 44% at $12.73 at last check, making it the worst stock on the Nasdaq, and it earlier sunk to arecord low of $12.40. The steep drop has been prompted by a first-quarter revenue forecast that was below estimates, as well as the departure of the company's CFO. As a result, PI stock, which is currently short-sale restricted, was hit with no fewer than three downgrades, including to "sector perform" from "outperform" at RBC, which also slashed its price-target to $17 from $41.
The equity has now shed 63% year-over-year, to the delight of short sellers. Although short interest has decreased by 3.4% during the last reporting period, the 6.37 million shares sold short represent a whopping 44% of PI's total available float.
Earlier today, Viking Therapeutics announced a $55 million public offering of common stock. The news has VKTX stock up 14.5% to trade at $6.08, flirting with the annual high of $6.25 it touched on Monday. It's been an impressive ascent for the security, adding 590% since trading at $0.88 on Aug. 2.
A short squeeze could provide even more tailwinds for the biotech name. Short interest increased by 48% during the last reporting period to a record high 1.97 million shares. This represents a healthy 12% of VKTX's total available float.
Shares of AMBA are stumbling, down 1.1% at $49.20 after business partner GoPro's (GPRO)subpar earnings report. Since touching an annual high of $66.23 on Jan 3, Ambarella shares have given back 25%, guided lower by their decreasing 10-day moving average in recent sessions.
Despite the stock's struggles in 2018, options traders have been optimistic. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AMBA's 10-day call/put volume ratio sits at 4.94. Not only does this show that calls have outnumbered puts by a nearly 5-to-1 ratio, but this ratio ranks in the 76th percentile of its annual range. Continued technical struggles could lead to an unwinding of these bullish bets.