Unusual Options Activity, Wed 5/17/23

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:

• IQ May 6 calls (volume: 15.5K, open int: 3560, implied vol: ~109%, prev day implied vol: 92%). 3500 contracts traded in a single transaction. Co is expected to report earnings mid-June.
• FHN Jun 10 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 5% (volume: 1500, open int: 0, implied vol: ~69%, prev day implied vol: 62%). Co is expected to report earnings mid-July.
• CRDO Aug 10 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 10% (volume: 1960, open int: 0, implied vol: ~55%, prev day implied vol: 52%). Co is confirmed to report earnings May 31 after the close.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• TAP May 62.5 puts (volume: 1890, open int: 640, implied vol: ~34%, prev day implied vol: 26%). Co is expected to report early earnings August.
• CHPT May 7.5 puts (volume: 20.2K, open int: 840, implied vol: ~75%, prev day implied vol: 71%).  We noted put activity yesterday (see 5/16 13:17). 20K traded in a single transaction. Co is confirmed to report earnings June 1 after the close.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.94, VIX: (17.10, -0.90, -5.0%).
This week is options expiration -- Friday, May 19th is the last day to trade May equity options.

-=iQiyi (IQ) reported earnings on Wed 6 Nov 19 (a/h)

iQIYI misses by RMB0.13, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs in-line

Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of RMB 5.04 per share, RMB 0.13 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of (RMB 4.91); revenues rose 7.0% year/year to RMB 7.4 bln vs the RMB 7.23 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of RMB 6.86-7.28 bln vs. RMB 7.04 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

-=iQiyi (IQ) reported earnings on Tue 30 Oct 2018 (a/h)

• IQ Plummets on Wide Q3 Operating Loss
• China's Top Netflix-Style App Deepens its Bets on In-House Shows

The Beijing, China-based company said that for its third quarter of fiscal 2018, it brought in total revenue of RMB6.9 billion ($1 billion), which marks a 48% increase compared to the same period in its fiscal 2017.

iQiyi said that its operating loss for the period tallied up to RMB2.6 billion ($377.3 million), while the company’s operating loss margin was 37%, compared to an operating loss of RMB1.1 billion and an operating loss margin of 23% during the same period in fiscal 2017.

Chief Technology Officer Wenfeng Liu said it will prioritize in-house productions, especially short-form shows designed for smartphones, as it competes with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plus rising social video apps. IQiyi this month unveiled more than 200 new shows for 2019 -- from reality programs such as “The Rap of China” and “Idol Producer” to anime and movies.

“In-house production helps us differentiate and build a brand,” Liu told Bloomberg News at the Asia Society’s China-U.S. Cultural Investment Forum in New York. “If there’s no differentiation, it will be very challenging.”

The company was late to short-form video -- a burgeoning format popularized by Bytedance’s Douyin and Kuaishou that’s taken China by storm --- but wants to become a major player within one to three years, Chief Executive Officer Gong Yu said in May. To differentiate, it’s betting on high-quality shows of two to five minutes per episode, with a total of about 10 episodes, Liu said.

=iQIYI (IQ) reported earnings on Tue 31 July 2018 (a/h)

iQIYI misses by $0.08, misses on revs 

• Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.45 per share, $0.08 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.37); revenues rose 42.6% year/year to $6.17 bln vs the $6.26 bln two analyst estimate.
  • Membership services revenue was RMB2.5 billion (US$374.0 million), representing a 66% increase from the same period in 2017.
  • Online advertising services revenue was RMB2.6 billion (US$395.6 million), representing a 45% increase from the same period in 2017.
  • Content distribution revenue was RMB539.4 million (US$81.5 million), representing an 18% increase from the same period in 2017.
• For the third quarter of 2018, iQIYI expects total net revenues to be between RMB6.70 billion (US$985.3 million3) and RMB6.98 billion (US$1.03 billion), representing a 43% to 49% increase from the same period in 2017.

Earnings this week : July 30 - Aug 3, 18 (wk 31)

The earnings onslaught continues this week. More than 140 S&P 500 companies, including Apple Inc (AAPL), will report earnings:

Monday (July 30)

• Morning: USFD  SOGO CRCM  CAT SPG FDC STX L CNA ON AER
• Afternoon: RRC AKS  ILMN AVB SBAC KLAC VNO ARE UDR LOGI SCI ATHN RIG ALSN CHGG NTRI   APPF

Tuesday (July 31)

• Morning: LL SNE HMC PFE PG SNY CHTR AMT ECL SHPG FIS ETN JCI ADM APTV CMI WEC HRS SHOP FTS AME VMC INCY ERJ IPGP XYL MAS WCG RL ARNC SERV HUN
• Afternoon: AAPL BIDU JHG  BGFV CLS APC FISV OKE DVN IQ   SEND  TCS VRSK FE AKAM FANG CHRW ACGL EXR HOLX DOX NBIX H ULTI QGEN WGP WES TRQ CACC TX PAYC MOH DEI ZEN P MB COHR PZZA   ES BXP VRSK FE AKAM CHRW ACGL  HOLX DOX NBIX H ULTI WGP QGEN WES CACC TRQ TX DEI MOH PAYC ZEN NFX MDU ENLK ASH OLN WLL SMG COHR QLYS MDR TEX AMED NUVA ENLC RPAI STAG CAKE REXR CPS RRR GNW ROG SKT NBR MRCY SIMO P APAM MB EVTC LADR MATX MGRC QUOT MTSI HCLP QSII ARCB WNC YRD QUAD HY WIRE CRAY HURN NANO HBM LDL GLUU UIS BAND ENPH MOBL CAI HVT ZAGG FTR LNDC SOI  ZIXI AMSC

Wednesday (Aug 1)

• Morning: DBD  EPD ADP D HUM EXC PEG RACE ICL S IDXX QSR ETR TAP IT GRMN SPR BG NI CDK HBI CZR CRTO SODA   GLPI ARCC NNN GIB LFUS LIVN UTHR HPP AN CHK NSP UNVR ENR CIM SITE AVA GNRC HEP FUN CLH VG UFS MDCO SUM BDC BPMC CG  TMHC AMC DM FLOW SAIA RDC KLIC WD NSIT MTOR BCOR PBI MDC SSTK STRA DIN EGL CPLA RDWR SSYS KFRC ARII CSWI THR NVMI AMRN GPRE KEYW GLDD EMES  

• Afternoon: TSLA TMUS MET ESRX NTR ALL SQ WMB TS MRO WYNN APA AWK ESS LNC YUMC DVA NLY XPO FMC FTNT MAA CF QRVO EXAS X TDOC ZNGA FEYE CRUS PS   PRU PSA ALL CXO SQ WMB TS    O  LNC YUMC XPO NLY DVA  AFG UGI FRT TRMB PKI VOYA DXCM MAC HLF TRIP WPX EXAS PRAH WTR AR X PK EXEL VVC CONE THG MASI GMED HUBS ARRS STMP RYN CMPR LSI PPC VVV AGO SGMS  APU MTDR CHDN PGRE AMGP SIGI CNO TTEK HGV  HI SM KW FEYE WTS LHCG  MUSA CLVS TROX KLIC TTMI IRTC CLI AXGN INOV NPO HUBG INN APTI PS FIT KRG LPSN

Thursday (Aug 2)

• Morning: BABA DWDP BDX AET CNQ DUK CTSH ICE CI ZTS REGN KDP YUM K TEVA RCL PH GGP GPN ABC MGM CLX CBRE MMP MSCI WRK DISH W

 ICE EXC BCE  WLTW ABC GPN  WLK CHD BLL HFC CDW TFX HCP HII NRG W ALNY WEX ENBL PF TDY INGR APO SEE EPAM ARW UBNT MZOR SCG PWR SHLX MIXT SYNH AGIO IDA INXN SNDR FND MD ALE SR GIL PAH CNX ROLL AMCX MFA VAC GEO SFM ICPT THS XHR CRS CCOI LCII ITGR RGEN ARES CBM EXLS HSC SBH AAON PNK PBH GOLF AROC IBP AAWW PCRX DNOW CJ BSIG GOV EEX MGPI GLOG CNXM CBZ ACOR CEIX NEWM NCI PRFT

• Afternoon: EOG ATVI AIG ED CBS ANET CERN MSI FLT CA BMRN TTWO SSNC SYMC GDDY ATUS DATA POST WING ACIA   CC 

 ACLS AGS AIG AIV ALEX AMH AMN ANET APPN ATH ATUS ATVI BFAM BGS BL BMRN BNFT BOJA BRKR BRS CARB CATM CBPX    CCS CERN CERS CNXN COHU CPSI CPT CRC CTRL CWST DATA DRH EBS ECOL ED EEP ELY ENSG EOG ERI ERII ESL EVC FCE.A FLR FLT FTAI GHDX GHL GKOS GPRO GSBD GTE HAYN HR HTA HTGC ICFI IMMR KTOS LNT LOCO MAIN MDCA MDRX MED MSI MTX MTZ NE NFG NUS NVRO OEC OR OTEX PACB PBA PDFS PMT PODD POST RARE REG RMAX RMD RP RTEC RYAM SEDG SEM SEP SHAK SPXC SRCL SRG SSNC SSTI STAR STRL SWIR SWN TDC TRUP TSE TSRO TTOO TTWO TVTY TWOU USX VICI VREX WAIR WEB WING WU XLRN Y

Friday (Aug 3)

• Morning: ABR AEE ASIX ATRO AXL BCPC BERY BPL CNP DISH EAF  ENB ESNT GTT HMSY HUD ITT  KHC LYB MGI  NBL   CBOE PNW RLGY  SSP  TDS  TRTN TWI  VER WPC   VRAY  GRPN USM