Redburn Atlantic downgraded SPOT to “neutral” from “buy”
Last week, Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) announced premium users in the U.K. and Australia will now have 15 hours of free access to audiobooks a month, with the feature soon expanding to the U.S. Redburn Atlantic downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” in response, noting it could force a response from Amazon.com (AMZN) — the owner of Audible.com — and increase competition.
Spotify stock was last seen down 2.8% at $156.07, and earlier traded as low as $153.50. The equity has been seeing pressure at the $160 level of late, though its 40-day moving average kept its late September pullback was kept in check. Since the start of the year, SPOT is up roughly 98%.
In the options pits, puts have outweighed calls lately, per the security’s 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.11 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This shows much more bearish sentiment than usual in relation to the past year, as this ratio ranks higher than 90% of annual readings.
Premiums are reasonably priced at the moment, too. SPOT’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 41% sits in the 22nd percentile of its annual range, meaning options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.