Bears look to be circling the equity
Shares of UiPath Inc (NYSE:PATH) are down 0.5% to trade at $11.19 at last glance, extending their multi-month pullback from its early December 52-week high. A breakout attempt was thwarted just above the $12 level in the last weeks of March, with the stock sporting a 31.6% year-to-date deficit.
While the catalyst behind today's pullback is unclear, PATH options remain red hot. So far today, 80,000 puts have been exchanged, five times the average intraday rate. The weekly 4/10 12-strike call and April 9 put are seeing the most action.
Contrary to today's spike in bearish attention, bullish bettors have been swarming the stock. This is per PATH's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 7.97 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits higher than 73% of annual readings and should this optimism begin to unwind, it could trigger more headwinds for the shares.
Premium buying is the way to go at the moment, per the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS), which comes in at 86 out of 100. In simpler terms, the shares have consistently realized higher volatility than its options have priced in over the past 12 months.
Lastly, PATH's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 60% that ranks higher than just 23% of readings from the last year. This indicates near-term option traders are now pricing in low volatility expectations.