5 Hated Stocks Poised to Pop on Earnings

I would simply avoid DECK or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout, and then drops back below its 50-day moving average of $39.49 a share and then below more support levels at $39.04 to $38 a share with high volume. If we get that move, then DECK will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major support levels at $36.46 to $35.70 a share.

Mako Surgical

Another potential earnings short-squeeze play is medical device player Mako Surgical (MAKO), which is set to release its numbers on Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Mako Surgical to report revenue of $30.80 million on a loss of 11 cents per share.

If you're looking for a heavily shorted stock that's been beaten down by the bears ahead of its earnings report this week, then check out shares of Mako Surgical. This stock has been slammed by the sellers during the last six months, with shares off by 24.4%. That selloff currently has shares of MAKO trading just 80 cents off its 52-week low of $10.35 a share.

The current short interest as a percentage of the float for MAKO Surgical is extremely high at 29.5%. That means that out of the 40.31 million shares in the tradable float, 11.97 million shares are sold short by the bears. The bears have also been increasing their bets from the last reporting period by 6.3%, or by about 708,000 shares. If the bears are caught pressing their bets into a bullish quarter, then shares of MAKO could rip meaningfully higher post-earnings.

From a technical perspective, MAKO is currently trending below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bearish. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last six months, with shares dropping from over $19 to its recent low of $10.35 a share. During that downtrend, shares of MAKO have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of MAKO have now started to rebound off that $10.35 low and are quickly moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.

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