Today’s tickers: BBRY, OSIR & EBAY
BBRY – BlackBerry Ltd. – Shares in BlackBerry are moving higher on Tuesday, extending Monday’s rally after the smartphone maker yesterday said it would explore strategic options, including a possible sale of the company. The stock popped nearly 13% to $12.18 in the early going, the highest level in six weeks. Options traders positioning for the price of the underlying to continue to climb snapped up weekly call options on BBRY straight out of the gate this morning. Trading traffic in the Aug 23 ’13 $9.5 and $12 strike calls suggests one strategist may be rolling up a bullish stance on BBRY, selling roughly 2,000 of the $9.5 calls for an average premium of $1.59 each, and buying roughly the same number of $12 calls at an average premium of $0.23 apiece within the first 20 minutes of the opening bell. Meanwhile, it looks like traders purchased more than 2,600 calls at the Aug 23 ’13 $11.5 strike for an average premium of $0.56 apiece, and around 400 calls at the Aug 23 ’13 $12 strike at a premium of $0.25 each. Buyers of the $12 calls stand ready to profit by expiration next week should shares in BlackBerry rally 3.8% over the current price of $11.80 to exceed the average breakeven price of $12.25. Not all of the trading traffic in BlackBerry options today looks for the price of the underlying to extend gains. Buyers of more than 3,200 of the Aug 23 ’13 $11 strike put options at an average premium of $0.43 per contract this morning are positioned to make money in the event that the smartphone maker’s shares drop 11% from the current price to settle below the breakeven point on the downside at $10.57 at expiration. Upwards of 204,000 options contracts have changed hands on BBRY as of 11:20 a.m. ET versus the stock’s average daily volume of around 75,000 contracts.
OSIR – Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. – The more than 130% jump in Osiris Therapeutics shares to $24.78 today sparked heavy trading traffic in OSIR options this morning, with volume up above 7,500 contracts by 11:30 a.m. in New York versus the stock’s average daily volume of around 220 contracts. Shares in OSIR are ripping higher after the company reported positive results from a clinical trial of Grafix®, a treatment for diabetic foot ulcers. Traders appear to be buying in the money call options on the name, with shares currently trading well above the highest available striking prices today. Near-term bullish positions are accumulating in the Aug $17.5 call options, with around 420 of the contracts picked up in the early going for an average premium of $1.80 each. Bullish action spread to the Sep $20 and $22.5 strikes; it looks like traders snapped up around 550 of the Sep $20 calls for an average premium of $2.64 each, and purchased roughly 310 of the Sep $22.5 call options at an average premium of $1.51 apiece. Traders long the $20 and $22.5 calls may profit if shares in Osiris settle above average breakeven prices of $22.64 and $24.01, respectively, at September expiration.
EBAY – eBay, Inc. – Weekly call options on online marketplace provider, eBay, Inc., are active today as shares in the name rally to the highest level since mid-July. The stock is currently up 1.8% at $54.24 just before 11:30 a.m. ET. Options traders positioning for shares in eBay to continue higher this week picked up short dated calls on the stock, purchasing around 1,200 of the Aug 16 ’13 $53.5 strike contracts at an average premium of $0.73 each, and snapping up more than 600 of the Aug 16 ’13 $54 calls for an average premium of $0.44 apiece. Buyers of the weekly calls stand ready to profit at expiration should shares in EBAY settle above average breakeven points at $54.23 and $54.44, respectively.
Caitlin Duffy
Equity Options Analyst
