Unusual Options Activity Tue 6/18/24

The following options are exhibiting notable trading, potentially indicating changing sentiment toward the underlying stocks, and/or potentially representing positioning for increased volatility.

Bullish Call Activity:

• CVNA Jun 115 calls (volume: 2940, open int: 2160, implied vol: ~65%, prev day implied vol: 58%). Co is expected to report earnings early August.
• SMCI Jun 950 calls (volume: 13.3K, open int: 2.8K, implied vol: ~78%, prev day implied vol: 74%). Co  continues to expand in Silicon Valley with new campuses as the demand for liquid-cooled data center increases. Co is expected to report earnings early August.
• HPE Jun 22.5 calls (volume: 9830, open int: 5830, implied vol: ~47%, prev day implied vol: 44%). Co introduced introduces new ai and hybrid cloud programs to boost partner profitability.  We noted activity in the Jun 22 calls yesterday (see 6/17 13:31 OPTNX). Nvidia CEO Huang to appear at HPE's Investor Relations Summit on June 18 to speak about the companies' AI partnership. Co is expected to report earnings late August.
• IP Aug 45 calls (volume: 4200, open int: 1470, implied vol: ~38%, prev day implied vol: 35%). Co is expected to report earnings late July.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• C Jun 58 puts (volume: 6410, open int: 6870, implied vol: ~27%, prev day implied vol: 25%). Co reaffirmed FY24 revenue guidance at investor day (ongoing). Co is confirmed to report earnings July 12 before the open.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.87, VIX: (12.54, -0,21, -1.7%).
June 21 is options expiration -- the last day to trade June equity options.

===Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Thur 21 May 20 (a/h)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise misses by $0.07, misses on revs; announces cost optimization and prioritization plan 

Reports Q2 (Apr) earnings of $0.22 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.29; revenues fell 16.0% year/year to $6.01 bln vs the $6.28 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Annualized revenue run-rate (ARR): $520 million, up 17% from the prior-year period.

Co also approves a cost optimization and prioritization plan in order to focus HPE's investments and realign the workforce to areas of growth, including measures to simplify and evolve its product portfolio strategy, go-to-market configurations, supply chain structures, digital customer support model and marketing experiences, and real estate strategies. HPE expects that the plan will be implemented through fiscal year 2022 and estimates it will include gross savings as a result of changes to the company's workforce, real estate model and business process improvements of at least $1.0 billion, with the plan expected to deliver annualized net run-rate savings of at least $800 million by fiscal year 2022-end. In order to achieve this level of cost savings, HPE estimates cash funding payments between $1.0 billion to $1.3 billion over the next three years.

Earnings this week : May 18 - 22, 20 (wk 21)

Monday (May 18)

• Morning: IGT SE
• Afternoon: BIDU BILI BVN IQ

Tuesday (May 19)

• Morning: AAP DY EXP HD KSS SINA WMT WB
• Afternoon: KRNT NTES RRR SQM URBN

Wednesday (May 20)

• Morning: ADI EV FRO LOW MCK ROLL TGT VER 
• Afternoon: BOOT CPRT EXPE HUYA YY LB NDSN SCVL SKY SNPS TTWO ZTO

Thursday (May 21)

• Morning: WMS AINV BBY BJ BRC DAVA HRL MDT TGP TNK TJX USPH
• Afternoon: A DECK HPE INTU RAMP NVDA PANW PRSP PLT ROST SPLK

Friday (May 22) 

• Morning: BABA BKE CAE DE FL PDD

=Cray Inc. (CRAY) to be acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) for $35.00/share

Cray to be acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for $35.00/share in cash, or approximately $1.3 bln

• Bringing together HPE and Cray enables an enhanced financial profile for the combined company that includes several revenue growth opportunities and cost synergies. As a result of the enhanced financial profiles of the combined companies, the deal is expected to be accretive to HPE non-GAAP operating profit and earnings in the first full year following the close. As part of the transaction, HPE expects to incur one-time integration costs that will be absorbed within HPE's FY20 free cash flow outlook of $1.9B to $2.1B that remains unchanged. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of HPE's fiscal year 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

(Bloomberg) -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. has agreed to buy U.S. supercomputer maker Cray Inc. in a deal valued at about $1.4 billion as the firm works to become more competitive in high-end computing.

Cray investors will get $35 a share in cash, the companies said in a statement on Friday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. That represents a premium of about 17% above Thursday’s closing price. The deal values Cray at $1.3 billion net of cash, the firms said in the statement.

The deal will help HP Enterprise strengthen its position against International Business Machines Corp. It could also become HP Enterprise’s biggest since it started trading in 2015, surpassing its acquisition of Nimble Storage Inc. for about $1 billion more than two years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

HP Enterprise has mostly been paring down since it was created from the breakup of Hewlett-Packard Co. In 2017, it completed a spinoff and merger of its enterprise services business with Computer Sciences Corp. It’s also separated some software assets in an $8.8 billion deal with U.K.-based Micro Focus International Plc.

Still, the company has also committed $4 billion through 2022 to initiatives to develop artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and distributed computing offerings. Chief Executive Officer Antonio Neri, who succeeded Meg Whitman last year, said in November that HP Enterprise would start to see a return on that investment over the next two years.

Loss-making Cray traces its roots back to a company founded in 1972 by Seymour Cray, known as the “father of supercomputing.” This month, it signed a deal with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to build a new $600 million system for research on artificial intelligence, weather, subatomic structures, genomics and physics.

HP Enterprise’s own high-end computer systems are used by the University of Notre Dame, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and chemical giant BASF SE, according to its website. Last year, it won a $57 million contract to provide supercomputers to the U.S. Department of Defense for helicopter design and weather forecasting.

-=Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Tue 22 May 18 (a/h)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line; raises FY18 EPS 

• Reports Q2 (Apr) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 9.7% year/year to $7.47 bln vs the $7.39 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
  • Hybrid IT revenue was $6.0 billion, up 7% year over year and up 4% when adjusted for currency, with a 10.3% operating margin. Compute revenue was up 6%, up 2% when adjusted for currency, Storage revenue was up 24%, up 22% when adjusted for currency, DC Networking revenue was up 2%, down 1% when adjusted for currency, and Pointnext revenue was up 1%, down 1% when adjusted for currency.
  • Intelligent Edge revenue was $710 million, up 17% year over year and up 14% when adjusted for currency, with a 6.5% operating margin. HPE Aruba Product revenue was up 18%, up 14% when adjusted for currency, HPE Aruba Services revenue was up 10%, up 11% when adjusted for currency.
  • Financial Services revenue +5% to $916 million and delivered an operating margin of 7.9%.
• Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.35-0.39, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.36 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY18, raises EPS to $1.40-1.50 from $1.35-1.45, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.41 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

-=Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Thur 22 Feb 2018 (a/h)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus; guides FY18 EPS above consensus; Announces plan to return $7 billion to shareholders through FY19 in the form of share repurchases and a 50 percent dividend increase starting in Q3 FY18 

• Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 11.6% year/year to $7.7 bln vs the $7.07 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues upside guidancefor Q2, sees EPS of $0.29-0.33, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.26 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues upside guidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $1.35-1.45, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.18 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Announces plan to return $7 billion to shareholders through FY19 in the form of share repurchases and a 50 percent dividend increase starting in Q3 FY18. 
• "Our strong Q1 performance is proof that we have the right strategy and improved execution," said Antonio Neri, President and CEO of HPE. "We had good revenue growth across every business segment, continued to execute HPE Next with no disruption to the business, and delivered strong shareholder return in the form of share repurchases and dividends."

=Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Tue 21 November 2017 (a/h)

Hewlett Packard Enterprise beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus; maintains FY18 EPS in-line 

• Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.28; revenues rose 4.6% year/year to $7.66 bln vs the $7.78 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues downside guidancefor Q1, sees EPS of $0.20-0.24, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co maintains guidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $1.15-1.25, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.19 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces effective February 1, 2018, Antonio Neri, current President of HPE, will become President and CEO, and will join the HPE Board of Directors 

In 2011, Neri began running the company's Technology Services business, then its Server and Networking business units, before running all of Enterprise Group beginning in 2015.

• As the leader for HPE's largest business segment, comprising server, storage, networking and services solutions, Neri was responsible for setting the R&D agenda, bringing innovations to market, and go-to-market strategy and execution.
• Neri was appointed President of HPE in June 2017.
  • In addition to leading the company's four primary lines of business, as President, Neri has been responsible for HPE Next, a program to accelerate the company's core performance and competitiveness.
• Meg Whitman, current Chief Executive Officer, will remain on the HPE Board of Directors.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) completes spinoff

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) has completed the spinoff of much of its software business, merging it with Britain's Micro Focus (OTC:MCFYY).
• The step marks the end of HPE's unhappy tangle with Autonomy, which it acquired for $11B to transform into an enterprise software leader.
• The ink was barely dry on the much-criticized deal when the company took an $8.8B writedown on it.

  

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Wed 31 May 2017 (a/h)

** charts after earnings **

  

• HP Enterprise reports 2Q loss

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) _ Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) on Wednesday reported a fiscal second-quarter loss of $612 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Palo Alto, California-based company said it had a loss of 37 cents. Earnings, adjusted for pretax expenses and non-recurring costs, came to 25 cents per share.

The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 35 cents per share.

The information technology products and services provider posted revenue of $9.9 billion in the period, exceeding Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $9.87 billion.

For the current quarter ending in August, HP Enterprise expects its per-share earnings to range from 24 cents to 28 cents.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $1.46 to $1.56 per share.

HP Enterprise shares have fallen 19 percent since the beginning of the year.

Nimble Storage (NMBL) to be acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for $12.50/share

• Nimble Storage (NMBL) to be acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for $12.50/share in cash  (7 March 2017)

  

  

• Reports Q4 (Jan) loss of $0.12 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.14); revenues rose 29.9% year/year to $117.03 mln vs the $113.51 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• In light of the recently announced pending acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Nimble Storage will not hold a conference call to discuss these financial results and will not provide Q1FY18 guidance.

** charts NMBL after **

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported earnings on Thur 23 Feb 17 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

  

** charts after earnings **

  

Hewlett Packard Enterprise beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q2 EPS below consensus; lowers FY17 EPS, in-line :

• Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.45 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.44; revenues fell 10.4% year/year to $11.41 bln vs the $12.05 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
  • Enterprise Group revenue was $6.3 billion, down 12% year over year, down 6% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with a 12.7% operating margin. Servers revenue was down 12%, down 11% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Storage revenue was down 13%, down 12% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Networking revenue was down 33%, up 6% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Technology Services revenue was down 2%, up 4% when adjusted for divestitures and currency.
  • Enterprise Services revenue was $4.0 billion, down 11% year over year, down 6% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with a 7.0% operating margin. Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing revenue was down 8%, down 7% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Application and Business Services revenue was down 17%, down 3% when adjusted for divestitures and currency.
  • Software revenue was $721 million, down 8% year over year, down 1% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, with a 21.4% operating margin. License revenue was down 9%, down 2% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Support revenue was down 9%, down 2% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, Professional Services revenue was down 7%, down 5% when adjusted for divestitures and currency, and Software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue was up 4%, up 6% when adjusted for divestitures and currency.
  • Financial Services revenue was $823 million, up 6% year over year, net portfolio assets were up 2%, and financing volume was down 10%. The business delivered an operating margin of 9.5%.
• Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.41-0.45, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.45 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues in-line guidance for FY17, lowers EPS to $1.88-1.98 from $2.00-2.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.93 Capital IQ Consensus. Three significant headwinds have developed since Hewlett Packard Enterprise provided its original fiscal 2017 outlook at its Securities Analyst Meeting in October 2016: increased pressure from foreign exchange movements, higher commodities pricing, and some near-term execution issues. Given these challenges, the company is reducing its FY17 outlook by $0.12 in order to continue making the appropriate investments to secure the long-term success of the business. 

HPE — is it a buy?

9/19/16:  Is HPE a buy?

• A month later.  Is it a buy again?

• Went much higher in the next 6 weeks.

Long trade : HPE (8/17)

HPE — is it a buy?

• 5/20/16:  Is HPE a buy?   $15.80

• 3 weeks later:  +20%

Long trade : HPE +20% (3/16)

HPE — is it a buy?

• 2 Dec 15:  Is HPE a buy?

• 3 weeks later: NO
• Is it a buy now?

• Next 2 months: