Unusual Options Activity Tue 8/8/23

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:

• DELL Aug 56 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 6% (volume: 2300, open int: 30, implied vol: ~43%, prev day implied vol: 25%). Co is confirmed to report earnings August 31 after the close.
• CHPT Aug 8 calls (volume: 17.2K, open int: 1850, implied vol: ~84%, prev day implied vol: 69%). 15K traded in a single transaction. Co is expected to report earnings late August.
• PBI Oct 4 calls (volume: 1510, open int: 10, implied vol: ~52%, prev day implied vol: 46%). 1500 contracts traded in a single transaction. Co is expected to report earnings early November.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• M Aug 15.5 puts (volume: 5040, open int: 170, implied vol: ~50%, prev day implied vol: 43%). Co is confirmed to report earnings August 22 before the open.
• SMG Aug 60 puts (volume: 3210, open int: 1820, implied vol: ~25%, prev day implied vol: 22%). Co is expected to report earnings early November.
  
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 1.03, VIX: (17.44, +1.67, +10.6%).
August 18 is options expiration -- the last day to trade August equity options.

=Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Wed 29 July 20 (b/o)

Scotts Miracle-Gro beats by $0.37, beats on revs; guides FY20 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus 

Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $3.80 per share, $0.37 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $3.43; revenues rose 27.5% year/year to $1.49 bln vs the $1.33 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues upside guidance for FY20, sees EPS of $6.65 to $6.85 from $5.65 to $5.85 vs. $5.78 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY20 revs of $3.977 bln to $4.040 bln (+26% to +28% yr/yr) vs. $3.69 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Earnings this week : July 27 - 31, 20 (wk 31)

Monday (July 27)

• Afternoon: AGNC ARE AMKR BRO CATY CINF FIX CR EHC FFIV HSTM HTLF HXL IBTX JJSF JBT MEDP NOV NXPI OGS OMF PCH PFG QTS RNST SSD TCF TNET TBI UHS VCRA

Tuesday

• Morning: MMM MO ARCH AWI ABG B CNC CVLT GLW CMI DHI DTE ECL FBP EBC FELE BEN HOG HUN IVZ IRDM JBLU LH LW MLM MCD MDC MSCI NEO EDU OMC PFE PII PRLB RTX ROK ROP SPGI ST SHW SSTK SITC TRU TPB WAB WDR XRX YNDX ZBRA
• Afternoon: ACCO AMD AFL AKAM AMED AMGN APAM ASH ATRC CAR AXS BE BGFV BXP BYD CHRW CE CB CYH CSGP DENN DXCM EGP EBAY EIX ENVA EQR EEFT FEYE FCF FTV THG HA HP HIW IMAX JNPR KAI LSCC MASI MTDR MXIM MDLZ MPWR MRC NCR NWE OMCL OKE PKG PEGA PKI PLT RNR RXN STX SSNC STAG SBUX SYX TENB TRMK UDR UMBF UNM V WRE WH

Wednesday

• Morning: AAN AER ALKS ANTM APHA ADP AXTA BKU BDC BXMT BA BSX BCO BG CCJ CLS GIB CHEF CME CRTO DIN DT ETN ENB ETR EPD FSS FDP GRMN GD GE GM HES IPG JHG LIVN MHO MGLN MTOR MNRO NYCB NSC OC PAG PB RDWR ROL RES R SAIA SNY SC SMG SHOP SLAB SITE SIX SPOT TSEM FLOW SMP SHOO TROW TEL MEET TT UMC UTHR WNC WING

• Afternoon: AEGN AEM AGI ALGT AMP NLY AM AR APA ACGL ADM ASGN AVB AVTR AX BHE BLKB WHD CERN CAKE CHE CHDN CDE CGNX CTSH CXO CNMD CCI CONE DORM DRE WIRE EQIX EQC FB FICO FBHS FCPT GNW HOLX HPP PI INOV ISBC KRC KGC KN KLIC LRCX MTSI MANT VAC MGRC MMSI MAA MKSI MOBL MC MSA EGOV ORLY OII OIS PGRE PYPL PDM PPC PS PTC QRVO QCOM RJF SANM SIGI SCI NOW SIMO SKY SFM SRI RGR FTI TDOC TTEK TSE TROX TTMI TYL UCTT URI VICI WRI WERN WPX YUMC

Thursday (July 30)

• Morning: AOS ALXN AMT BUD APO APTV AZXN BAX BPMC BC CWT CRAI CI CLF COHU CMCSA COP COR CROX DAN DBD DNKN DD EXP ELAN LLY ES FMS FCN GNRC GPC GIL GPI GRUB HBI HGV IP ITGR ICE K KDP KEX KHC LNTH LKQ MMP MMC MA MPW MD MGPI TAP MCO MYE NTCT NEM NOC NVCR ODFL OSK OSTK PATK PRFT PBI PQG PG PFS RGEN RDS.A SNDR SIRI SM SAH SO SWK SF TMHC TRP TFX TPX TNC TXT TW TRS UPS GRA WM WEX YUM
• Afternoon: TWOU EGHT AIMT MDRX GOOG ATUS AMZN AAPL ATR ACA AJG TEAM BGA BAND BIO BEAT BRKS BVN BLDR COG CPT CC CXP COLM OFC CUZ CVA CACC CRY DVA DECK DLX DLR DRQ LOCO EA EBS NVST EXAS EXPE EXPO FHI FLEX FND FLS F FORM FTAI FWRD GLPI GILD HIG HTGC HTH HOPE HST HUBG MX MTZ MELI MGM MTX MITK MHK MOH PFPT PRO QDEL RP RDFN SGEN SHAK SKYW SPSC SYK TNDM X VRTX VRTU INT WWE XLNX XPO ZEN

Friday (July 31)

• Morning: ABBV AXL AON BCPC BERY BAH CAT CBOE CBRE CHTR CVX CHD CL CTS D XOM FCAU GT IDXX ITW MRK NOK NWL NVT PBF PSX PSXP PINS PNM SNA SPB UAA VFC WPC WETF

Earnings spotlight:

• Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY), Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) and NXP Semi (NASDAQ:NXPI) on July 27; 
• Centene (NYSE:CNC), McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), 3M (NYSE:MMM), Altria (NYSE:MO), Visa (NYSE:V), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) on July 28; 
• Boeing (NYSE:BA), General Electric (NYSE:GE), General Motors (GPhillM), General Dynamic (NYSE:GD), Boeing (BA), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) Facebook (FB), PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) and Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) on July 29; 
• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), CIGNA (NYSE:CI), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), UPS (NYSE:UPS), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Ford (NYSE:F), MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) on July 30; 
• Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Caterpillar on July 31.

-=Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Wed 31 July 2019 (b/o)

 Scotts Miracle-Gro beats by $0.37, beats on revs; guides FY19 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus

Reports Q3 (Jun) earnings of $3.11 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.37 better thanthe S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $2.74; revenues rose 17.7% year/year to $1.17 bln vs the $1.07 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Co issues upside guidancefor FY19, sees EPS of $4.35-4.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.35 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY19 revenue growth of +16-17%, which we compute as $3.09-3.12 bln vs. $3.02 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

"The strong recovery we have seen in Hawthorne this year is being led by increased sales of lighting and nutrients products, our largest and most important categories...We're also pleased with the 15% growth we've seen year-to-date in California and the strong growth we're seeing in emerging markets like Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Massachusetts, where changes to state laws regarding cannabis cultivation are starting to drive higher sales. "

Monsanto has agreed to purchase from SMG four Roundup-branded product lines outside the non-selective weed control category, as well as the right to use the Roundup brand (previously licensed to Scotts by Monsanto) on those and future product lines outside the non-selective weed control category, for $112 mln. SMG will act as marketing agent for these brand extension product lines and the cos will equally share future profits, which are expected to be approx $15 mln in FY19.

Earnings this week : July 29 - Aug 2, 19 (wk 31)

Monday (July 29)

• Morning: CTB ONDK SNY TSEM
• Afternoon: ACGL AKS AMH AMKR APPF APTS ARE AROC BRX BYND CGNX CHGG CVCO DISH EHC ELVT FRAC HLIT HTLF ILMN INST JBT JJSF LEG MDR MEDP NBIX NBR NGHC NOV NPO NTR NXPI OFC OGS OMF PCH PI PKI QTS RE RGA RIG RMBS RNG SANM SBAC SCI SSB SSD SSNC TACO TBI TEX TREX TRTX TXRH VNO VRNS WCN 

Tuesday (July 30)

• Morning:  AER AGCO AME AOS ARCC BEN BERY CEQP CIGI CMCO CMI CNX CNXM COP CVLT DHI DORM DSX ECL EME EQM ETN EXLS FDP FMS GEO GLT GLW GPN GRUB GTX HCA HUBB HUD HUN I INCY IPGP IR IRWD IT LDOS LGND LLY LPT MA MCRN MGLN MLM MMC MMYT MO MRK MYE NEO NRZ PAG PEG PG R RL SF SHOO SIRI SLCA SNE SQNS SR ST SXC TRS TX UAA VIVO VSH WAB WAT WCG WDR WYND XRX ZBRA
• Afternoon: AAPL ACHC ADSW AKAM ALL AMD AMGN APAM ARCB ASH ATEN ATRC AX AXS BEAT BLKB BXP BYD CACC CCS CDAY CHRW CINF CNO COHR CRY CSLT DENN DLR EA EGHT ENPH EQR EXP EXR FCPT FEYE FMC FTSI GILD GNW GRPN HA HR HUBG HURN HVT HY IMAX INVH IRWD KAI KBR KL LDL LNDC LSCC MC MDLZ MDU MGRC MKSI MOH MRCY MSTR MX MXIM NANO NATI NCR NR NUVA OKE PAYC PSA QGEN QUAD REXR RPAI RRD RTEC RXN SIMO SOI STAG SYKE SYX TCS TENB TRUP TTOO TWOU TX UDR UIS UMBF UNM VNOM VRSK WES WIRE YUMC ZEN

Wednesday (July 31)

• Morning: ACCO ADP AMCX AMRN AMT APO APTV ARES ASC BDC BG BHGE BLMN BTU CBZ CDW CG CHD CIM CLH CME CRL CRTO D DAN DIN EAF ECA EPD ETR EXTR FCAU FOE FSS GE GIB GLDD GRMN HEP HES HPP HSC HUM ICL JCI JHG KFRC LFUS LHX LIVN MCO MDC MGPI MTOR NI NLSN NYCB ORBC RDWR SAIA SBH SITE SMG SO SPG SPOT SPR SSYS STNG STRA TAP TGI TKR TMHC TNC TPB UTHR WLTW WNC
• Afternoon: ACAD AEGN AGI ALSN AM AMED APA AR ATR ATUS AVB AWK AYX BAND BLDP BOOT CAKE CASA CBL CCRN CF CHDN CHEF CMPR CNMD CONE CRUS CTSH CW CXO DRE DXCM EGOV EPR EQC EQIX ES ETH EVTC EXEL EZPW FICO FIT FIVN FLS FORM FOXF GDI GHL H HABT HCC HCP HI HOLX INN INOV IRTC KAMN KGC KTOS KW LADR LMNX LNC LPI LPSN LRCX LSI MAA MANT MASI MCK MEOH MET MOD MPWR MTDR MUSA MYRG NEXA NLS NLY OI OLN OR OXY PDM PGRE PK PPC PRAH PRU PS QCOM QLYS RBBN RDN RGR ROG RPT SIGI SKT SKY SKYW SLF SPWR SRI SWIR TDOC THG TIVO TRMB TRQ TS TSLX TTEK TTMI TWLO TYL UCTT VAC VAL VICI VNDA VRTX VVV WDC WELL WHD WLL WMB WRI WTI WTS ZNGA 

Thursday (Aug 1)

• Morning: AAON AAWW ABC ABMD ACOR ADM AGIO AKRX ALE AMCR ARW ASIX AVP BCE BCPC BLD BLL BPL BPMC BR BSIG CBRE CI CIR CLVS CLX CNHI CNQ CNSL CRAI CROX CRS CWT DD DEA DLPH DNKN EEX EIGI EXC GIL GLOG GM GNRC GPOR HBI HFC HGV HII HRI ICE IDA IDCC IDXX IGT INGR INSM IRM ITGR K KEM MAC MD MIXT MMP MPC MPLX MPW MSCI MT NMRK NNN NTCT NTLA NVT OSK PBF PBFX PBH PENN PGTI PH PRFT PWR RDS.A RFP RGEN ROLL RPD SABR SFM SHOP SNDR SPAR SPGI SRCL STAR STFC STOR SUM TFX TGP THS TNK TRI TRP TWI UFS VZ W WCC WEX WING WLH WMS WRK XEL XHR XYL YETI YUM ZEUS
• Afternoon: ANET APHA BZH WIFI CC CBPX DLB EBS EOG ETSY FSLR FLR FTNT GDDY GLUU GPRO TUSK PINS QRVO RDFN SQ SVMK OLED ZIXI

Friday (Aug 2) 

• Morning: ARNC XRAY CVX XOM RACE HRC NWL MGI QSR STX  

Notable earnings reports:

• NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) and Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND ) on July 29;
• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Altria (NYSE:MO), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), MasterCard (NYSE:MA), Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE ), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Under Armour (UA, UAA) on July 30;
• General Electric (NYSE:GE ), Humana (NYSE:HUM), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) and Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ:CRUS ) on July 31;
• General Motors (NYSE:GM), U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY), Wayfair (NYSE:W), Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), Square (NYSE:SQ), GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) and Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) on August 1; 
• Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) and Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) on August 2.

-= Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Tue 6 Nov 2018 (b/o)

 Scotts Miracle-Gro misses by $0.09, misses on revs; guides FY19 EPS and rev just below consensus

• Reports Q4 (Sep) loss of $0.75 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.66); revenues rose 15.1% year/year to $434 mln vs the $441.1 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Sales in the U.S. Consumer segment decreased 2 percent in the quarter to $252.6 million due primarily to focused inventory productivity efforts with certain key retail accounts. The segment delivered segment profit of $5.3 million compared with a loss of $0.3 million a year earlier. Hawthorne reported sales of $152.2 million, a 65 percent increase from the same period a year ago, driven by acquisitions. Excluding acquisitions, sales decreased 15 percent due to declines in the North American hydroponic business partially offset by growth in the European professional greenhouse market and AeroGrow. Hawthorne reported a segment profit of $0.5 million in the quarter compared with $9.0 million a year earlier.
• Co issues downside guidance for FY19, sees EPS of $4.10-4.30 vs. $4.31 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY19 revs +10-11% to ~$2.93-2.96 bln vs. $2.97 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. The guidance assumes the U.S. Consumer segment will grow 1 to 2 percent with the balance, ~9 percent, from Hawthorne. Within the Hawthorne segment, acquisitions are expected to contribute 8 percent on a company-wide basis. Flat gross margin.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Tue 30 January 2018 (BMO)

** charts after earnings **

Scotts Miracle-Gro misses by $0.15, misses on revs; raises FY18 EPS above consensus following tax reform, lowers FY18 revs below consensus

• Reports Q1 (Dec) loss of $1.08 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.15 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.93); revenues fell 10.3% year/year to $221.5 mln vs the $237.21 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issuesguidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $4.60-4.80 from $4.15-4.35, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.44 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; lowers FY18 revs to +2-4% from +4-6% to ~$2.69-2.75 bln vs. $2.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• The company-wide gross margin rates decreased to 15.3 percent from 17.7 percent.
• "The Company also said it expects its effective tax rate to decline to a range of 26 to 27 percent in fiscal 2018, a rate that will likely remain consistent in future years. As a result of the lower rate, the Company increased its Non-GAAP adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $4.60 to $4.80 per share from the previous range of $4.15 to $4.35 per share. In addition, the Company reduced its full-year sales outlook to a range of 2 to 4 percent due to the slow start at Hawthorne but maintained a consistent operating earnings outlook primarily due to tighter SG&A spending."
• "While we view the recent slow down within Hawthorne as temporary, it has continued into the second quarter. We now expect full-year organic sales growth at Hawthorne will be flat assuming a return to normal market conditions in the second half of the year. Our long-term prospects for this business remain unchanged and we continue to see Hawthorne having strong long-term growth."

Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) reported earnings on Thur 3 Nov 2016 (b/o)

** charts before earnings **

** charts after earnings **

Scotts Miracle-Gro misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides FY17 EPS in-line, revs in-line:

• Reports Q4 (Sep) loss of $0.30 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.28); revenues rose 7.2% year/year to $402.3 mln vs the $369.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues in-line guidance for FY17, sees EPS of $4.10-4.30, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.29 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY17 revs of $3.00-3.03 bln vs. $2.95 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.