CROX was upgraded to “buy” at Williams Trading
Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) is up 2.2% to trade at $143.72 at last check, after Williams Trading upgraded the equity to “buy” from “hold” and hiked its price target from $135 to $163. In its bull note, the analyst praised Crocs’ signing of actress Sydney Sweeney as a spokesperson for its Heydude brand, which could help reverse negative sales trends.
Typically quiet in terms of options volume, CROX is seeing an uptick in bullish bets following the commentary. So far, 965 calls have crossed the tape, which is double the amount typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 8/23 144-strike call.
A short squeeze could also help Crocs stock. Short interest rose 15.6% over the last month, and the 5.27 million shares sold short make up 9.1% of the security’s available float, or nearly four days’ worth of pent-up buying power.
Now seems like a great opportunity to bet on the stock’s next move with options. The equity’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 35% sits in the 11th percentile of its 12-month range, meaning option players are pricing in low volatility expectations at the moment. Plus, its Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) tally of 77 out of 100 implies the security outperformed volatility expectations in the past year.
On the charts, Crocs stock is extending a rebound from its Aug. 5 dip to roughly six-month lows. Shares have added 9.5% over the last month, but have a lot of ground to make up in order to touch $165.32 as they did on June 20 — their highest level since December 2021. Year to date, CROX is up 55%.