Nvidia Stock Hits New Highs After Morgan Stanley Upgrade

NVDA has had a wicked climb up the charts in recent months

Chip stock Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is up 4.4% at $220.25 this morning, fresh off a 13-month high of $220.34, thanks to a raving bull note out of Morgan Stanley. The brokerage firm handed out an upgrade to "overweight" from "equal weight," and hiked its price target to $259 from $217 -- a nearly 23% premium to Friday's close of $210.89.

The analysts said 2019 was an investment year for the company's gaming segment, and expects this to result in 18% growth next year. Even further, Morgan Stanley said it expects NVDA's data center business to roughly double over the next three years. Heading into today, 68% of covering firms sported a "buy" or "strong buy" recommendation on the security.

Looking at the charts, NVIDIA stock recently pulled back to just above the $200 mark, tumbling after a dissatisfying current-quarter revenue forecast overshadowed a third-quarter beat on Nov. 15. NVDA quickly bounced off its rising 20-day moving average, and is now boasting a 64% year-to-date gain.

With earnings in the rearview mirror, now looks to be a good time to buy options premium on NVDA. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 33% falls in the 5th percentile of its annual range, meaning short-term NVDA options are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.

Lastly, Nvidia stock sports a Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 95 out of 100. This means the security has consistently made bigger moves on the charts than its options premiums have priced in over the past year.