Cowen Backs Outperforming Xilinx Stock

Cowen likes AMD's positioning versus rival Intel

Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) has been a notable outperformer in recent months, outpacing the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 28 percentage points over the past 60 sessions. In fact, Schaeffer's Quantitative Analyst Chris Prybal just pointed out that XLNX has seen the largest increase in market cap since September among all companies valued under $40 billion, up $12.9 billion in that time. Analysts at Cowen have taken notice, this morning raising their outlook on the stock.

The brokerage firm raised its price target to $130 from $105, expecting the company to benefit from increasing investments in 5G infrastructure through the end of 2019. This was part of the firm's broader view that the semiconductor sector should improve in the second half of 2019, though it still recommends a stock-picking strategy for the space. At last check, Xilinx stock was trading at $129.10, right below its record high of $130.65 from a week ago.

For Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDSAQ:AMD), Cowen raised its price target by $5 to $33, saying the company is in a good position to compete with rival Intel (INTC). AMD shares were last seen trading up 1.5% at $27.68. The equity has been in a trend of higher highs and lows in 2019, and hasn't traded below the 20-day moving average since March 18.

In the options pits, near-term traders are almost evenly split between puts and calls. That's according to the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.99, showing an equal amount of put and call open interest among contracts expiring within three months.