Unusual Options Activity Fri 5/24/24

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:

• AI Weekly May31 26.5 calls (volume: 12.7K, open int: 880, implied vol: ~80%, prev day implied vol: 60%). 11.7K traded in a single transaction. Co is confirmed to report earnings May 29 after the close.
• GPS Weekly May31 25 calls (volume: 2010, open int: 750, implied vol: ~72%, prev day implied vol: 56%). Co is confirmed to report earnings May 30 after the close.
• MRVL Jun 84 calls (volume: 1620, open int: 70, implied vol: ~51%, prev day implied vol: 46%). Co is confirmed to report earnings May 30 after the close.
• WDAY Weekly May24 235 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock down 14% (volume: 3750, open int: 10, implied vol: ~26%, prev day implied vol: 24%). Co reported earnings last night.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• ORCL Weekly May24 123 puts (volume: 2140, open int: 2740, implied vol: ~33%, prev day implied vol: 29%). Co is expected to report earnings mid-June.
• PZZA Jul 47.5 puts (volume: 5520, open int: 5550, implied vol: ~34%, prev day implied vol: 32%). 5230 contracts traded in a single transaction. We noted activity in the Jun 57.5 puts earlier in the week (see 5/23 13:17 OPTNX). Co is expected to report earnings early August.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.90, VIX: (12.19, -0.58, -4.6%).

June 21 is options expiration -- the last day to trade June equity options. 

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings on Thur 19 Nov 2020 (a/h)

 ** charts after earnings **

 

Workday beats by $0.19, beats on revs, raises FY21 subscription revenue guidance

Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.86 per share, $0.19 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.67; revenues rose 18.3% year/year to $1.11 bln vs the $1.09 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Reports subscription revenue backlog of $8.87 bln, up 23.4% yr/yr.

Outlook: "Based on our strong third quarter, we are raising our fiscal 2021 subscription revenue guidance to a range of $3.773-$3.775 billion. As we enter Q4, we are increasing our pace of investments to capitalize on the long-term opportunity that we see ahead."

Co commented during its call that it expects remaining headwinds due to COVID to be more fully evident in next year's subscription revs, weighing on co's growth in the near term.

Leon Cooperman: top 6 buys in the 4th quarter

Leon Cooperman, founder and chairman of the Omega Advisors family office, disclosed this week that his firm's top six buys for the fourth quarter of 2019 included new holdings in Ferro Corp. (NYSE:FOE) and Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) as well as position boosts in four existing holdings: DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE:DD), Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET), Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) and Mr. Cooper Group Inc. (NASDAQ:COOP).

Cooperman, who previously worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), converted his Omega hedge fund into a family office in 2018, citing in a letter that he did not wish to spend the rest of his life chasing the Standard & Poor's 500 Index benchmark. The fund chairman combines his macroeconomic views and fundamental valuation in his investing strategy, paying close attention to valuations.

As of quarter-end, Omega's $1.88 billion equity portfolio contains 60 stocks, with turnover of 9%. The top three sectors in terms of weight are financial services, energy and communication services, with weights of 24.07%, 17.85% and 11.73%.

Charts 6 months later: 

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ta=0&p=w&o=-change&t=ET,DD,FANG,WDAY,FOE,COOP

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings on Thur 29 Nov 2018 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

 Workday beats by $0.17, beats on revs; Sub revenue and backlog growth accelerates; Raises FY19 Subscription revenue outlook

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.17 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 33.8% year/year to $743.2 mln vs the $723.38 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Subscription Revenue of $624.4 Million, Up 34.7%y/y (Q2 30.2%)
  • Subscription Revenue Backlog of $5.9 Billion, Up 31.0%y/y (Q2 26.0%)
  • Operating cash flows were $114.3 million and free cash flows were $58.9 million.
• Raises FY19 Subscription Revenues to the range of $2.375-2.377 bln from $2.341-2.348 bln

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings on Thur 31 May 2018 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

** charts after earnings **

 

Workday beats by $0.07, beats on revs; raises FY19 sub rev guidance 

• Reports Q1 (Apr) adj. earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 29.0% year/year to $619 mln vs the $609.66 mln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• Subscription revenues +30.6% to $522.1 million vs. $514-516 mln guidance.
• "Based on our strong first quarter results, we are raising our fiscal 2019 outlook and are now expecting subscription revenue of $2.275 to $2.290 billion [from $2.265-2.280 bln], growth of 27% to 28%. We expect our second quarter subscription revenue to be between $557 and $559 million, growth of 28% to 29%. Our focus remains centered on investing in product innovation to drive strong, sustainable growth."

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings on Wed 29 Nov 2017 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

Workday beats by $0.10, beats on revs; Raises FY18 sub revenue guidance 

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 35.6% year/year to $555.4 mln vs the $541.05 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Subscription revenues were $463.6 million, an increase of 37.2% from the same period last year.
  • Raising fiscal 2018 outlook and are now expecting subscription revenue of $1.780 to $1.782 billion (Prior $1.750-1.757 bln). 

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings Thur 1 Dec 2016 (a/h)

** charts after earnings **

 

The human resources software provider reported a solid third-quarter sales and earnings beat, and issued fourth-quarter guidance above analyst views. But several large contracts expected to close in the fourth quarter had been pushed back, management said, due to political and economic uncertainties. Shares ended Thursday pulled back 13% from a mid-October high, testing support at their 40-week moving average.

Workday (WDAY) reported earnings Thu 19 Nov 2015 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

 

Workday beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs below consensus :

• Reports Q3 (Oct) net of breakeven, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.04); revenues rose 42.0% year/year to $305.3 mln vs the $303.29 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Operating cash flows for the third quarter were $55.1 million and free cash flows were $14.9 million. For the trailing twelve months, operating cash flows were $213.0 million and free cash flows were $79.1 million
• Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $317-320 mln vs. $320.35 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.