Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty said her early channel checks suggest broad demand for storage was weaker quarter-over-quarter, which leads her to believes that NetApp and other storage vendors are likely to miss sales expectations at value-added resellers, or VARs, in the third calendar quarter. Her checks with VARs additionally indicate that performance with NetApp weakened incrementally and the level of discounting increased quarter-over-quarter, Huberty tells investors. Following her channel work, she reiterates an Underweight rating and $41 price target on NetApp shares.

Bearish flow noted in NetApp with 1,299 puts trading, or 2x expected. Most active are 4/26 weekly 98 puts and 4/26 weekly 97 puts, with total volume in those strikes near 830 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 2.39, while ATM IV is up over 1 point on the day. Earnings are expected on May 30th.