Barclays lifted its price target on Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) stock to $120 from $95 ahead of this week's earnings report, anticipating "another strong beat and raise" from the company. MU initially jumped over 4% after the bull note today, though has since pared gains -- up 0.9% at $94.11 at last look. Micron Technology will report earnings after the close on Wednesday, Mar. 20. The options pits are pricing in a 16.2% swing after the event, regardless of direction, which is much larger than the 4.3 ...

Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) stock is up 2% at $68.06 at last check, as it trades within one standard deviation of its 50-day moving average, a historically bullish trendline that has provided tailwinds in the past. The shares already boast a 16% lead for 2024, and could soon make another run at a ceiling at the $74 level.  Per Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's data, the security saw at least two similar signals in the last three years, defined for this study as having traded north of this ...

Alphabet options had been seeing a slight uptick in bearish bets latelyThe class A shares of Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are 6.1% higher to trade at $149.83, after a Bloomberg report revealed that Apple (AAPL) is talking over licensing Google's Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) engine for future iPhones. GOOGL is a consistent member of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of stocks that attracted the highest weekly options volume during the previous 10 days. Per White's ...

Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is considering building advanced packaging capacity in Japan, which could boost the country's semiconductor industry. The security is up 2.7% at $140.28 at last check, climbing back towards its March 8, all-time high of $158.40, with support from the 20-day moving average. TSM is already up more than 34% in 2024.The brokerage bunch leans bullish, with eight of nine analysts in coverage calling Taiwan Semiconductor stock a "buy" or better. Bull notes could still ...

McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) stores in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Japan suffered a technology outage that reportedly left customers able to pay only in cash, while employees took orders on paper, and some locations suspended operations. The fast food giant said it was working to address the issue, and that it was not related to a cyberattack.MCD is down 0.4% at $280.50 ahead of the open, pacing for a third-straight daily drop after slipping below support from the 100-day moving average. Shares are ...

Fintech stocks Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) are seeing high volume in the options pits. Both have attracted investors' attention lately, and today PayPal named Aaron J. Webster as Executive Vice President and Chief Enterprise Services Officer. SQ was last seen up 4.9%, while PYPL rises 3.9%. Today's pop has SQ at fresh 52-week highs, up 10.7% since the start of the year. PayPal stock earlier recovered from its early February, post-earnings bear gap, but has since pared gains sli ...

A Bloomberg report indicated the Pentagon is considering ditching plans to spend $2.5 billion on a chip grant to IntelIntel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) is in the spotlight today, after Bloomberg reported the Pentagon intends to scrap plans to spend $2.5 billion on a chip grant to the company. Those familiar with the situation said it's up to the Commerce department to make up for the shortfall, as President Joe Biden signed into law a defense funding package that allotted $3.5 billion to Intel to produce defense and ...

The partnership will allow the pharma giant to deliver drugs straight to consumersEli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) today announced a new partnership with Amazon.com's  (AMZN) pharmacy to deliver drugs ordered via its LillyDirect service, including weight loss medication Zepbound, straight to consumers. The stock is down 0.4% at $751.86 at last check, with today's update also weighing on Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which last month lost its spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) to AMZN.The $720 leve ...

Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock was last seen up 10.1% to trade at $125.70, after the tech company beat fiscal third-quarter earnings thanks in part to artificial intelligence (AI) demand. The company also teased a joint announcement with chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) ahead of a global AI conference for developers on Monday, March 18.ORCL drew no fewer than 16 price-target hikes in response, the highest coming from Mizuho to $160 from $140. Analysts remain split on ORCL, however, with half the brokerage firms in c ...

Nvidia sits atop the list of stocks that saw most options volume over the last two weeksNvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) just last week became the world's third-most valuable public company, thanks to it pole position  as a leader in artificial intelligence (AI).  Due to this, the 'Magnificent Seven' member keeps a reserved spot on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of stocks that attract the highest weekly options volume over the preceding two weeks. NVDA once again took the second-place s ...