The company lowered its first-quarter forecast due to August’s cyberattack
Shares of Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) are down after the company lowered its first-quarter forecast due to a cyberattack in August that disrupted operations. Following the news, Raymond James downgraded the stock to “market perform” from “outperform,” while additional analysts issued price-target cuts, including Evercore ISI to $120 from $160.
At last glance, CLX was down 6.2% at $123.69, and trading at 52-week lows. The stock is currently below all notable short- and long-term moving averages, while sporting a roughly 12% year-to-date deficit. However, the equity’s 14-day relative strength index (RSI) of 20.9 sits firmly in “overbought” territory, meaning a short-term bounce could be in the cards.
Options traders don’t appear to be betting on that bounce just yet, however, as puts outweigh calls in options pits this morning. The 3,787 puts exchanged so far represent 10 times the volume typically seen at this point, with new positions being bought to open at the most active weekly 10/6 126-strike put.
Raymond James’ bear note is adding to a very pessimistic brokerage bunch. Of the 19 analysts covering CLX, 17 carry a “hold” or worse rating on the stock.