Chip Stock Slips Despite Bull Note

Susquehanna upped its price target on AMD to $50 from $45

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is struggling to capitalize on a bull note from Susquehanna today. The analyst lifted its price target to $50 from $45, just one session after the equity hit an all-time high of $52.81. Despite this AMD is down 4.1% to trade at $48.29 this morning, pacing for its first close below its 20-day moving average since early December.

The bull note come ahead of the semiconductor name's fourth-quarter earnings report, due out after the close tomorrow. During its past eight post-earnings sessions, AMD has seen some wild swings, including a 19.9% pop last January, and a 15.4% dip in October 2018. Plus, the equity has been mostly higher after earnings during these past two years, averaging a next-day move of 10.4%, regardless of direction. This time around, the options pits are pricing in an even bigger swing of 11.2%.

Speaking of options pits, these traders have been quite bullish of late, per AMD's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.78 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits in the 84th percentile of its annual range too, which suggests a much healthier-than-usual appetite for long calls in recent weeks.

Analyst sentiment tells a different story. In fact, the majority of those in coverage consider AMD a "hold." And even with today's price-target hike from Susquehanna, the consensus 12-month price target of $43.33 still sits at a sizable discount to last night's close.