The automaker is teaming up with AT&T to outfit its pickup with 5G
Automaker Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is down 1.5% to trade at $15.76 this afternoon, despite earlier announcing a partnership with AT&T (T) to outfit its new all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup with 5G. The update comes just a day ahead of the company's third-quarter earnings call, which is due out after the close tomorrow, Oct. 27.
The last time we checked in with Ford stock, the company had just announced an $11 billion investment to accelerate its push into electric vehicles. The security has since surged to an Oct. 21, seven-year high of $16.70, with support from the 180-day moving average August-September. Year-over-year, the shares are up 96.8%.
The equity has a dismal history of post-earnings reactions, finishing five of eight next-day sessions lower in the past two years, including a 9.4% drop in April. Options traders are pricing in a 7.6% swing for Ford sock this time around, which is much higher than the 4.7% move the security averaged after its last eight reports, regardless of direction.
The options pits are firmly in the bearish camp. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), F's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.34 sits higher than 94% of readings from the past 12 months. This high percentile means that while calls outnumber puts on an absolute basis, long puts have been getting picked up at a quicker-than-usual pace in the last two months.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 554,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is seven times what is typically seen at this point. Most popular is the November 14 put, followed by the December 13 put, with new positions currently being opened at the latter. This amount of bearish activity leaves ample room for bulls to enter the ring.