Today’s tickers: ADSK, SODA & CBI
ADSK – Autodesk, Inc. – Shares in the maker of 2D and 3D design and engineering software are down more than 4.0% today at $35.01 as of 11:40 a.m. ET and options activity on the stock this morning suggests some traders are bracing for the price of the underlying to extend losses during the next couple of weeks. Trading traffic in Autodesk options is heaviest at the Aug $34 strike where upwards of 2,900 puts have changed hands against open interest of 757 contracts. Time and sales data suggests most of the volume was purchased during morning trading for an average premium of $0.33 apiece. Put buyers may profit at expiration next month in the event that ADSK shares slide 3.8% from the current price of $35.01 to breach the average breakeven point on the downside at $33.67. The August expiry put options were also trading heavily during Tuesday’s session. It looks like a roughly 1,900-lot Aug $33/$35 put spread was purchased yesterday at an average net cost of $0.25 per contract. The bearish spread may generate maximum potential profits of $1.75 per contract if shares in Autodesk drop 5.7% to $33.00 by August expiration. The cost of initiating the same Aug $33/$35 put spread has roughly doubled overnight to $0.60 per spread as of the time of this writing.
SODA – Sodastream International Ltd. – Bullish options are active on Sodastream today following the company’s better than expected second-quarter earnings report released ahead of the open this morning. Shares in the name jumped more than 16% to $67.81 after the company raised its full year revenue forecast and posted higher than estimated second-quarter results. Traders positioning for shares in SODA to continue higher during the next couple of sessions snapped up weekly calls on the stock. More than 2,200 calls changed hands at the Aug 02 ’13 $67.5 strike versus open interest of 869 contracts by midday. It looks like most of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $1.00 apiece. Traders also homed in on the Aug 02 ’13 $70 strike calls, trading more than 1,300 lots and buying much of the volume for an average premium of $0.42 per contract. Buyers of the $67.5 and $70 strike weekly call options stand ready to profit at expiration should shares in the name rally another 1.0% and 4.0% over today’s high of $67.81 to top average breakeven points at $68.50 and $70.42, respectively.
CBI – Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. – Options on engineering and construction company, Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., are more active than usual today with shares in the name up 1.5% at $60.58 on the heels of better than expected second-quarter earnings released after the closing bell on Tuesday. Overall options volume of roughly 12,000 contracts as of midday in New York is substantial versus the stock’s average daily volume of around 1,600 contracts. The bulk of the volume is in upside calls, driving the call/put ratio above 9.5 in early afternoon trading. Activity in front month call options this morning suggests one or more traders are positioning for the price of the underlying to continue higher in the near term. The most traded options on CBI today are the Aug $62.5 strike calls, with more than 5,500 lots in play thus far in the session. It looks like one trader purchased most of the $62.5 calls at a premium of $0.50 per contract. The position starts making money if shares in Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. rally another 4.0% to top the average breakeven price of $63.00 by August expiration.
Caitlin Duffy
Equity Options Analyst
