Unusual Options Activity Mon 11/25/24

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

• ACHR Weekly Nov29 7 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 25% (volume: 2.9K, open int: 3.0K, implied vol: ~154%, prev day implied vol: 98%). We noted activity in the Dec 6 calls earlier this month (see 11/21 13:36 OPTNX). Co is expected to report earnings mid-February.
• OPEN Weekly Nov29 2.5 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 16% (volume: 6.5K, open int: 1.2K, implied vol: ~108%, prev day implied vol: 82%). We noted activity in the Weekly Dec06 2 calls last week (see 11/22 13:26 OPTNX). Co is expected to report earnings late February.
• JOBY Weekly Nov29 9 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 17% (volume: 3.8K, open int: 60, implied vol: ~109%, prev day implied vol: 99%). Co is expected to report earnings mid-February.
• NKE Weekly Nov29 82 calls (volume: 12.3K, open int: 950, implied vol: ~41%, prev day implied vol: 35%). Co is confirmed to report earnings December 19 after the close.
  

Bearish Put Activity

• KSS Weekly Nov29 15 puts are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 8% ahead of earnings tomorrow before the open (volume: 17.4K, open int: 2.3K, implied vol: ~71%, prev day implied vol: 57%). 15K traded in a single transaction.
• MPW Weekly Nov29 4.5 puts are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 15% (volume: 38.0K, open int: 53.9K, implied vol: ~68%, prev day implied vol: 60%). Co is expected to report earnings late February.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.85, VIX: (15.60, +0.36, +2.4%).
December 20 is options expiration -- the last day to trade December equity options.

Unusual Options Activity Wed 8/21/24

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:

• BBAI Weekly Aug23 2 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 30% (volume: 7.0K, open int: 160, implied vol: ~145%, prev day implied vol: 87%). The Co. and Concept Solutions team awarded 10 year $2.4 billion shared contract with U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to provide IT solutions and emerging tech.
• FUBO Weekly Aug23 2 calls (volume: 12.0K, open int: 30.9K, implied vol: ~116%, prev day implied vol: 93%). 1500 contracts traded in a single transaction. Co is expected to report earnings early November.
• EOSE Jan25 3 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 15% (volume: 21.2K, open int: 15.1K, implied vol: ~119%, prev day implied vol: 106%). 20K traded in a single transaction. Stock was resumed with a Buy at Stifel. Co is expected to report earnings mid-November.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• WOLF Sep 8 puts are seeing interest ahead of earnings tonight after the close (volume: 4.0K, open int: 600, implied vol: ~153%, prev day implied vol: 106%).
• KSS Sep 19 puts (volume: 15.5K, open int: 20, implied vol: ~70%, prev day implied vol: 55%). We noted activity in the Sep 19 puts earlier this week (see 8/20 13:42 OPTNX). Co is confirmed to report earnings August 28 before the open.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.84, VIX: (16.70, +0.82, +5.2%).
September 20 is options expiration -- the last day to trade September equity options.

This week's biggest % winners & losers: May 17 - 21, 2021 (wk 20)

This week's biggest % gainers/losers The following are this week's top percentage gainers and losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top % gainers

• Healthcare: RETA (110.5 +41.03%), TRXC (2.19 +28.53%), QTNT (4.43 +21.04%), ODT (3.47 +20.49%), ABEO (1.64 +18.48%), KZR (6.16 +17.46%), TXMD (1.23 +16.67%), SLDB (4.07 +16.62%), STIM (14.89 +16.51%)
• Industrials: ENPH (143.72 +19.99%), DSX (4.36 +16.58%)
• Consumer Discretionary: UXIN (3.56 +30.4%), PLCE (92.13 +18.66%)
• Information Technology: DDD (27.29 +22.21%)
• Energy: LPI (52.77 +26.61%), CRC (29.56 +22.48%), OAS (85.87 +20.07%), TELL (2.62 +18.55%)
• Consumer Staples: BRFS (5.03 +25.94%)

This week's top % losers

• Healthcare: IOVA (17.95 -30.48%), OMER (14.97 -17.75%), CHRS (13.56 -10.41%), CLVS (5.26 -10.39%)
• Materials: SQM (42.69 -18.39%), CENX (12.96 -14.23%)
• Consumer Discretionary: CWH (40.37 -11.8%), HZO (53.6 -11.3%), KSS (54.42 -11.26%), TAL (43.41 -10.94%), RL (121.66 -10.86%), SNBR (99.31 -10.75%), BKE (40.45 -10.63%), AEO (32.88 -10.07%)
• Financials: BSAC (19.69 -15.33%)
• Energy: RES (5.07 -12.74%)
• Utilities: ENIC (2.99 -18.31%)

-=Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Thur 20 May 21 (b/o)

 

Kohl's beats by $1.17, beats on revs; raises FY22 EPS and revs

Reports Q1 (Apr) earnings of $1.05 per share, $1.17 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.12); revenues rose 60.1% year/year to $3.89 bln vs the $3.35 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues guidance for FY22, sees EPS of $3.80-4.20 vs. $2.82 S&P Capital IQ Consensus, and above prior guidance of $2.45-2.95; sees FY22 revs of mid-to-high teens percentage growth vs. +17% yr/yr or $17.56 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. This is up from previous expectation of mid-teens percentage rate increase.

Kohl's making 12-week lows despite reporting surprise Q1 profit, upbeat sales & lifting FY22 guidance 

Possibly, investors are a bit perplexed by the company's FY22 EPS guidance of $3.80-4.20 (from $2.45-2.95).

• The guidance came in below pre-pandemic FY19's $4.86 result, a possible sign that the company still sees some residual impact from the pandemic for the remainder of the year.
• Some on Wall Street have pointed out that most of the guidance increase stems from the Q1 performance, and not solely from improving business trends.

This morning, Telsey Advisory Group's Dana Telsey said, "Overall, Kohl's, like most retailers, benefited from a favorable consumer environment in the first quarter against much easier prior year compares. The company drove outsized performance across the board in 1Q21 as the macro environment continued to improve following the broader vaccine rollout, return of warmer weather, and another round of government stimulus payments. Following the strong start to the year, the company raised its FY21 guidance, coming in ahead of the market's expectations, though still below the pre-pandemic FY19 levels. Overall, the upcoming Sephora partnership can drive accretion over a longer-term basis as the company continues to improve the relevancy of its offering across categories, and its advantaged off-mall footprint can support both digital and physical growth. However, with an elevated valuation against improved visibility to FY21 earnings, we maintain our Market Perform rating at current levels."

Further, Telsey added, "Altogether, the company now sees FY21 EPS coming in at $3.80-$4.20 (up from $2.45-$2.95), as compared to ($1.21) last year, $4.86 in FY19, and the prior consensus forecast of $3.15. At the mid-point, the new guidance range represents an increase of $1.30 from prior expectations, of which nearly $1.00 reflects the first quarter outperformance."

Department store peers lower include: JWN -5.87%, M -4.55%, DDS -0.45%.

\

Earnings this week : May 17 - 21, 2021 (wk 20)

Monday (May 17)

• Morning:  TWNK RIDE PRPL
• Afternoon: DM DNMR FSR GAN  ONTX TME  XONE 

Tuesday (May 18)

• Morning: AGFY BIDU BZUN DOYU HD HUYA IQ KC M MBT  NTES SE WMT
• Afternoon:  AGYS STE TTWO TCOM

Wednesday (May 19)

• Morning:  ADI CAE EXP DAVA JD LOW TGT TJX VIPS
• Afternoon:  CSCO CPRT GDS BEKE KEYS KNBE LB SCVL SQM SNPS ZTO

Thursday (May 20)

• Morning: WMS BJ BRC CSIQ HRL KSS LSPD MNRO WOOF RL PLCE TGI
• Afternoon:  AINV AMAT DECK FLO PANW ROST

Friday (May 21)  

• Morning:  BAH BKE DE FL ROLL VFC

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Tue 19 Nov 2019 (b/o)

** charts after earnings **

 

Kohl's misses by $0.12, beats on revs; lowers FY20 EPS below consensus

Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.74 per share, $0.12 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.86; revenues rose 5.9% year/year to $4.63 bln vs the $4.4 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

• Q3 comparable sales increased 0.4%

Co issues downside guidance for FY20, sees EPS of $4.75-4.95 vs. $5.19 S&P Capital IQ Consensus, compared to prior guidance of $5.15-5.45.

Earnings this week : Nov 18 - 22, 19 (wk 47)

Monday (Nov 18)

• Morning: CCMP LX MANU QD
• Afternoon: CRMT ASH BILI KRNT WWD ZTO

Tuesday (Nov 19)

• Morning: WUBA ARMK DAVA PPDF HD JKS KSS MMS MDT NJR TJX TDG
• Afternoon: ESE PAGS URBN

Wednesday (Nov 20)

• Morning: AVYA LOW PDD QIWI SR TGT
• Afternoon: CPRT CUB GTBIF JACK LB LZB NTES NUAN SQM SONO

Thursday (Nov 21)

• Morning: ASYS PLAN BZUN BERY BJ BRC BV AQUA HMLP M SDRL SFL
• Afternoon: BRBR ENTA GPS IIIV INTU MATW JWN OOMA POST PSTG ROST SCVL SPLK WSM

Friday (Nov 22)

• Morning: ATKR BKE FL FUTU HIBB SJM

Notable earnings reports:

• Manchester United (NYSE:MANU) on November 18; 
• Home Depot (HD), TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) on November 19; 
• L Brands (NYSE:LB), Lowe's (LOW), Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) and Target (TGT) on November 20; 
• Gap (NYSE:GPS), Macy's (NYSE:M), Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK), Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) on November 21; 
• Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) and J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) on November 22.

This week's biggest % winners & losers : May 20 - 24, 19 (wk 21)

The following are this week's top percentage gainers and losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top % gainers

• Healthcare: KPTI (6.19 +33.41%), ARRY (27.09 +23.92%), ARWR (24.04 +23.54%), IOVA (17.25 +14.77%)
• Materials: SID (4.25 +14.86%)
• Industrials: CIR (43.4 +39.55%), GOL (12.27 +23.69%)
• Consumer Discretionary:  HIBB (23.96 +23.82%), SKY (25.6 +16.63%), TGT (81.57 +15.07%), BOOT (30.1 +14.27%), ROKU (95.78 +13.98%)
• Information Technology: TSS (113.45 +11.99%), DQ (36.56 +11.57%)
• Financials: IBN (12.42 +13.22%), SUPV (5.9 +11.53%)
• Consumer Staples: AVP (3.7 +19.35%)
• Utilities: PAM (26.02 +14.52%)

This week's top % losers

• Healthcare: BCRX (3.32 -54.71%), MNK (9.61 -34.54%)
• Materials: VHI (1.81 -19.56%)
• Consumer Discretionary: KSS (51.12 -19.62%), FL (44.4 -19.57%), SCVL (26.83 -16.96%)
• Information Technology: PSTG (16.14 -21.73%), QCOM (66.21 -18.76%)
• Energy: NBR (2.35 -31.69%), SDRL (5.5 -24.35%), SPN (1.92 -22.58%), CRC (16.83 -20.84%), ESV (8.63 -20.53%), PUMP (18.81 -19.41%), CPE (6.81 -16.75%), TUSK (11.74 -16.62%)
• Consumer Staples: RAD (7.34 -19.61%)

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Tue 21 May 2019 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

Kohl's misses by $0.06, misses on revs; guides FY20 EPS below consensus; Q1 comps -3.4%

• Reports Q1 (Apr) earnings of $0.61 per share, $0.06 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.67; net sales fell 3.3% year/year to $3.82 bln vs the $3.97 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Comparable sales decrease 3.4%
• Co issues downside guidance for FY20, sees EPS of $5.15-5.45 vs. $6.04 S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
• Michelle Gass, Kohl's chief executive officer, said, "The year has started off slower than we'd like, with our first quarter sales coming in below our expectation. We are actively addressing the opportunities that impacted our first quarter sales and we have strong initiatives that will enhance our sales performance in the second half."

Earnings this week : May 20 - 24, 19 (wk 21)

Monday (May 20)

• Morning: AZZ IGT PDD QD SPTN
• Afternoon: NDSN

Tuesday (May 21)

• Morning: AZO DAVA DY EV HD JCP KSS MNRO SFL TJX
• Afternoon: CRMT JWN OOMA PSTG SE SKY TOL URBN

Wednesday (May 22)

• Morning: AAP ADI CM CSWI LOW PLAB TGT VFC
• Afternoon: CPRT CTRP HTHT LB MOD NTAP SCVL SNPS VIPS

Thursday (May 23)

• Morning: BBY BJ BRC CTRN HRL MDT ROLL RY SDRL SINA TD TK TNK TTC VIOT WB WMS
• Afternoon: ADSK CVCO DECK DXC HPE HPQ INTU LGF.A ROST SPLK VSAT

Friday (May 24) 

• Morning: BKE FL HIBB

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Tue 20 Nov 2018 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

 

Kohl's beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; raises bottom end of FY19 guidance; Q3 comps +2.5%

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.98 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.96; revenues rose 1.3% year/year to $4.37 bln vs the $4.36 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co reports Q3 comps of +2.5%, which is ahead of expectations (+0.1% last year). Co reported Q3 gross margins of 37.0%, up 25 basis points YoY.
• Co issues raised bottom end of guidance for FY19, sees EPS of $5.35-5.55 from $5.15-5.55, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $5.49 S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Earnings this week : Nov 19 - 23, 18 (wk 47)

Earnings confirmed to report this week

Monday (Nov 19) 

• Morning: JD SPB
• Afternoon: A BECN BRKS GH INTU JACK KLIC LB NUAN PSTG URBN

Tuesday (Nov 20)

• Morning: ADI BBY BKS CPB DY HRL JEC KSS LOW MDT MMS NJR PDD ROST SFL TGT TJX
• Afternoon: ADSK BILI BJ CAL CPRT ESL FL GPS KEYS QADA SE

Wednesday (Nov 21)

• Morning: BZUN CMCM DAKT DE QD
• Afternoon: None

Thursday (Nov 22)

• Markets closed for Thanksgiving

Friday (Nov 23)

• None

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Tue 22 May 18 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

** charts after earnings **

 

 Kohl's beats by $0.14, reports revs in-line, comps +3.6%; raises FY19 EPS guidance

• Reports Q1 (Apr) earnings of $0.64 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.50; revenues rose 3.6% year/year to $3.95 bln vs the $3.96 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Comparable sales increased 3.6% vs. estimates for +2.7%
• Co raises guidance for FY19, sees EPS of $5.05-5.50 (Prior $4.95-5.45), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $5.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

CNBC reco: Jon Najarian Sees Unusual Activity in KSS & LULU

• source investitute.com; April 19, 2017
• charts several months later: options trades did NOT work out

KSS

Traders are buying a few thousand May 42.50 calls, selling puts against them to create a bullish spread. Jon thinks the stock trades higher into earnings, will be in it for 2-3 weeks.

LULU

Jon saw some unusual activity in LULU a few weeks ago and has been holding the name in light of some private equity speculators coming into the name. Jon sold some puts in LULU a few weeks ago, and is holding May call options until expiration.

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Thu 9 Nov 2017 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

 

Kohl's misses by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides FY18 EPS in-line

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.70 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.72; revenues rose 0.1% year/year to $4.33 bln vs the $4.3 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Comp store sales increased 0.1% y/y.
  • Gross Margins fell 30 bps y/y to 36.8%.
• Co issues in-line guidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $3.60-3.80 (Prior $3.50-3.80), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.75 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. 

Kohl's (KSS) reported earnings on Thur 10 Aug 2017 (b/o)

** charts after earnings **

 

Kohl's beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line

• Reports Q2 (Jul) earnings of $1.24 per share, $0.05 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $1.19; revenues fell 0.9% year/year to $4.14 bln vs the $4.12 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• Comps -0.4% vs. 1.4% estimates and -1.8% last year.
• "The traffic momentum that we saw in the combined March/April period accelerated in the second quarter. Though transactions for the quarter were lower than last year, July transactions increased. We are also excited by the sequential sales trend improvement in all our lines of business, all geographic regions, and in both our proprietary and national brand portfolios. Gross margin and SG&A expenses were consistent with our expectations and we are seeing benefits from our ongoing inventory initiatives and the early stages of our cost-saving initiative."
• FY18 guidance from February (may be updated on the call): EPS $3.50-3.80; sales down 1.3% to up 0.7% to ~$18.44-18.82 bln; comps -2% to 0% and gross margin +10-15 bps.