Unusual Options Activity Fri 3/15/24

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:

• VFC March 14.5 Calls (volume: 2523, open int: 85, implied vol: ~125%, prev day implied vol: 65%). Co is expected to report earnings mid May.
• ARMK March 31 Calls (volume: 2405, open int: 9, implied vol: ~135%, prev day implied vol: 22%). Co is expected to report earnings early May.

Bearish Put Activity:

• Z March 51 Puts are seeing interest with the underlying stock down 15% (volume: 1438, open int: 0, implied vol: ~256%, prev day implied vol: 54%). Co is expected to report earnings early May.
• USFD March 55 Puts (volume: 1250, open int: , implied vol: ~177%, prev day implied vol: 20%). Co is expected to report earnings early May.

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.90, VIX: (14.40, +0.65, +4.73%).
March 15 is options expiration -- the last day to trade March equity options.

-=US Foods (USFD) reported Q2 earnings on Mon 30 July 2018 (b/o)

US Foods misses by $0.01, misses on revs; reaffirms FY18 EPS guidance, lowers FY18 revs guidance below consensus 

• Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.57 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.58; revenues were unchanged year/year at $6.16 bln vs the $6.32 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues guidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $2.00-2.10 vs. $2.06 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY18 revs of +1-2% YoY to ~$24.40-24.63 vs. $24.87 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. This is below prior revs guidance of $24.87 bln

US Foods to acquire Services Group of America's Food Group of Companies for $1.8 bln(

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, SGA's Food Group of Companies has combined 2017 net sales of $3.2 billion and approximately 3,400 employees. SGA's Food Group of Companies currently operates as five separate operating companies.

• US Foods expects to achieve approximately $55 million in annual run-rate cost synergies by the end of fiscal 2022, primarily driven by savings in distribution, procurement and administrative expenses.
• The purchase price reflects a multiple of 12.5x SGA's Food Group of Companies 2018E Adjusted EBITDA of $123 million, after taking into account the approximately $260 million estimated present value of cash tax benefits to be realized as a result of the acquisition. Including $55 million in annual run-rate synergies, the price reflects a 2018E Adjusted EBITDA multiple of 8.6x.
• Excluding amortization, the transaction is expected to become accretive to US Foods' Adjusted EPS in the second full year following closing.

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 

       

-=US Foods (USFD) reported earnings on Thur 15 Feb 2018 (b/o)

US Foods beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides FY18 EPS above consensus, revs in-line

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.44 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better thanthe Capital IQ Consensus of $0.43; revenues rose 5.6% year/year to $6 bln vs the $5.92 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Gross profit of $1.1 billion increased $47 million or 4.6% from the prior year, driven by higher case volumes and margin expansion initiatives, partially offset by higher inbound freight costs related to increases in freight market pricing. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9.4% to $290 million.
• Guidance Details: "For fiscal year 2018 the company expects total case volume growth of 1-2%, Adjusted EBITDA growth of 6-8%. For Q1 fiscal 2018, we expect year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA growth to be approximately 100 basis points below the low end of the range, primarily due to poor weather conditions and timing of the New Year's holiday. Adjusted EBITDA growth is expected to sequentially accelerate through the fiscal year. The company is also raising its mid-term target for Adjusted EBITDA growth from 7-10% to 8-10%. The company expects fiscal year 2018 Interest expense to be approximately $175-$180 million. Cash capital expenditures during fiscal 2018 are expected to be approximately $250-$260 million, and fleet capital leases are expected to be approximately $80 million."
• Co issues guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $2.00-2.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.89 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY18 revs of +3-4% to ~$24.87-25.11 bln vs. $25.06 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

=US Foods (USFD) reported earnings on Tue 8 Nov 2016 (b/o)

US Foods beats by $0.03, misses on revs:

• Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.36; revenues rose 0.8% year/year to $5.84 bln vs the $5.9 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Independent restaurant case volume grew 5.5% from the prior year, with acquisitions contributing 200 basis points to this growth. Total case volume increased 4% over last year's third quarter, of which 1.7% was organic.
• "Top line momentum and margin expansion, despite deflationary pressures, continue to demonstrate that our Great Food. Made Easy. strategy is resonating with independent restaurants and other customers. Our M&A pipeline remains strong, with two new acquisitions closed since the beginning of the fourth quarter. With the successful rollout of our new field operating model now substantially complete, we have launched two new initiatives that will contribute to EBITDA margin expansion. As a result of our strong year-to-date performance, we have increased our outlook for full year Adjusted EBITDA growth to 9-10%."