Trading in out of the money calls on OpenTable (Ticker: OPEN) this morning pushed options volume on the provider of online restaurant reservation services to more than twice the average daily level this morning, with upwards of 9,000 contracts changing hands in the early going versus an average daily reading of around 4,300 contracts.
The most traded options on OPEN are the 21Feb’14 $77.5 strike calls, with around 6,000 lots in play against open interest of roughly 1,200 contracts. It looks like traders quick enough out of the gate managed to pay as little as $0.10 apiece for approximately 1,500 of the calls. Gains in the price of the underlying, which spiked 4.0% near the open, coupled with an influx of buyers of the $77.5 calls pushed the premium on the contracts up to as high as $0.80 each at the same time that the stock price touched its intraday high of $77.85. The price of the underlying has since backed off those highs dragging down with it the prevailing premium on the contracts, which currently show a bid/ask spread of $0.05/$0.20 each. With expiration looming large and the price of the stock sitting decidedly lower than the $77.5 striking price, the morning purchase of these contracts may have generated transaction costs and little else by the looks of it. However, a review of time and sales data indicates some traders stepped in to sell the calls at an average premium of $0.27 each roughly an hour into the session. It’s difficult to say either way who is behind the selling, but perhaps buyers of the calls this morning were able to book quick profits on their positions at OpenTable this morning.
Looking out to options with more life left in them, the March expiry calls were also active during the first 30 minutes of the session. The Mar $80 strike calls traded roughly 1,000 times, with much of the volume purchased at a premium of $1.90 per contract. Traders long the calls stand ready to profit at expiration next month in the event that shares in OpenTable surge 7.0% over the current price of $76.50 to exceed the breakeven point at $81.90. Shares in the name last traded above $81.90 back on January 21st.
Chart – P&L of long Mar 80 Call Strategy in IB Option Strategy Lab
Current (solid line), At expiration (dotted line)
