Bear Note Sends Lyft Stock Lower
Lyft stock has been outperforming since its mid-May lows
Shares of ride-hailing service LYFT Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) are sliding this afternoon, last seen down 3.7% at $63.27. Guiding the plunge is an earlier initiationby Monness Crespi Hardt with a "neutral" rating. The newly public stock has seen a myriad of analyst coverage since its trading debut on March 29. As of Friday's close, 27 analysts were following Lyft stock, with a majority 19 sporting a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation. The stock's average 12-month price target is $71.41, almost 13% above current trading levels.
Ahead of today's sell-off, the Uber rival looked to be on a cautious journey higher, following its steep pullback from its May 13, record low of $47.17. Emerging as support has been the newly formed 20-day moving average, a trendline which briefly acted as a ceiling toward the shares in late April to early May. In fact, June has surprised as LYFT's first monthly gain ever, paving the course for the stock's now 39% upside to its mid-May bottom.
Looking into options, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), shows Lyft stock with a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.47. In other words, more than two calls have been purchased for every put on the security over the past 10 trading days.
Lastly, Lyft's short-term option premiums look relatively inexpensive at the moment. This is per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 46%, which stands in the bottom percentile of its annual range. In other words, near-term options are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.