Financial name Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is climbing higher this morning, last seen up 1% at $226.90, following news the company would lay off an undisclosed number of workers in an effort to reduce operating expenses by $1.3 million over the next three years. This marks Goldman Sachs' second round of layoffs this year, though the company does not expect this round to exceed the 400 positions cut in September.

Earlier this month, the security just enjoyed an impressive bull gap above recent pressure at its 120-day moving average, thanks to an upbeat vaccine update from Pfizer (PFE) that gave bank stocks a boost. Now, GS is eyeing its highest close in roughly eight months -- poised to topple the $225 level for the first time since early February. 

Analysts are mostly bullish on the security. Of the 14 in coverage, 10 call it a "strong buy." Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $255.58 is a 12.6% premium to current levels. 

Meanwhile, calls are outnumbering puts on an overall basis, though there's been an uptick in bearish options activity of late. This is per Goldman Sachs' 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 92% of readings from the past year. 

Now looks like an ideal time to get in on Goldman Sachs stock's next move with options, though. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 27% ranks in the 8th percentile of its 12-month range, meaning options traders are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. 

Ross Stores (NYSE:ROST) is one of the largest discount department store retailers in the U.S., with more than more than 1,400 stores throughout the country. Moreover, Ross Stores is slated to report its quarterly earnings tomorrow, Nov. 19, after the close, with hopes of pushing its earnings per share (EPS) back to its pre-pandemic levels.

ROST currently sports a ranking of 21 on the Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS). Using Schaeffer's extensive historical database, we conduct extensive research on each underlying equity and determined which of those underlying equities’ options have historically had underpriced or overpriced options. We rank each equity’s options relative to the others in our universe, with scores ranging from zero to 100. Lower SVS readings point to stocks that have consistently realized lower volatility than their options have priced in -- pointing to possible premium-selling candidates.

Despite the March crash that greatly impacted retail stocks, ROST has recovered fairly well since hitting its three-year low of $56.30 on --you guessed it-- March 18. The shares have doubled since then, but remain a ways off their pre-pandemic highs of $124.16 from Feb. 20. Nevertheless, the $87 level appears to have stepped up as support in recent months.

Ross Stores has beat expectations on three of its last four most recent earnings reports. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Ross Stores beat expectations by $0.06. The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03. In the first quarter of 2020, Ross Stores reportedly increased its EPS to $1.28. The company again beat expectations, this time by a margin of $0.03. Ross Stores reported a drastic drop in EPS in the second quarter of 2020. The company missed expectations by $0.90 and reported an EPS of $0.03. In its most recent quarter, Ross Stores beat its earnings target by a whopping $0.33. The company reported a positive EPS of $0.06, in lieu of the expected -$0.27 loss. For Ross Stores' upcoming report tomorrow, the company is anticipated to report an EPS of $0.61.

The company's upcoming earnings report tomorrow will be a major deciding factor in the next direction for ROST. If Ross Stores is unable to meet earnings expectations, the equity could potentially be facing a sell-off. Overall, with ROST stock currently toting a price-earnings ratio of 72.34 and a forward price-earnings ratio of 21.79, buying ROST stock could be perceived as too expensive and too risky for a value investment approach.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is an American chipmaker and currently one of the biggest players in the PC gaming market. The company has assisted Sony and Microsoft with its graphics cards in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox consoles. Over the past few years Nvidia has branched out of the gaming market and begun to tackle new markets like artificial intelligence, car electronics, and mobile devices.

Nvidia stock is up 124% year-to-date, completely ignoring its massive market cap, and is currently just 1.3% off of Sept. 2 all-time high of $589.06. And while the shares have traded sideways since then, they've found support at their ascending 80-day moving average, a trendline not breached on a closing basis since March 24. 

Nvidia Corporation has outperformed earnings expectations on all four of its most recent earnings reports leading up to today's report after the close. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Nvidia beat expectations by 13%%, or $0.21. The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.78. In the first quarter of 2020, Nvidia increased its quarterly EPS to $1.89. The company beat expectations by a margin of 13% again, or $0.22. In the following fiscal quarter of 2020, Nvidia reported a drop in its EPS down to $1.80, but still managed to beat expectations by 6.5%, or $0.11.

Most recently, the company's quarterly earnings report beat its target by 10.7%. Nvidia reported an EPS of $2.18 instead of the expected EPS of $1.97. This represented a sizable increase in EPS over the company's previous quarter. As for Nvidia's upcoming earnings report tonight, the company is expected to report an EPS of $2.57. If Nvidia meets expectations today, that would signal a significant increase in EPS of $0.39.

In the last five trading days, options traders have been loading up on calls ahead of the quarterly report. The November 600 call is most popular during this time span, and there are also new positions being opened at the November 540 call. With NVDA closing last night at $536.89, buyers of this option are banking on a post-earnings pop from the chipmaker to sustain itself through Friday, then the options expire.

NVDA stock has a forward dividend of $0.64 and a dividend yield of 0.12%. The last dividend Nvidia paid was for $0.16 per share. The company has paid a dividend since November of 2012.

Nvidia is a strong company with a rabid investor following. Nvidia's business model has demonstrated the proactive ability to be constantly adapting and expanding to explore new technological innovations. The company’s revenue demonstrates nice growth, along with an outstanding balance sheet to boot. Nvidia could clear up all of its debt right now and still have more than $3 billion available in cash.

One issue for investors when it comes to considering NVDA stock for their portfolios comes with its high price-earnings ratio of 98.62. A price-earnings ratio is one way for investors to value a company by measuring its current share price relative to its per-share earnings. Like many other tech stocks right now, NVDA stock is trading at an extremely high price. However, the company could potentially see NVDA stock continue its growth at an exponential rate based on recent outperformance. On the flipside, NVDA stock could experience some short-term weakness in NVDA stock price if a market correction occurs down the line.

Stocks pulled back on Tuesday, falling victim to profit-taking just one session removed from new record closes for the Dow and S&P 500 that occurred on Monday following Moderna vaccine news. All three major U.S. market indexes logged losses as retail sales increased less then expected in October and Coronavirus cases continue to spike in the U.S.  Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 29,783.35) lost 167.1 points, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,609.53) fell 17.4 points for the day. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 11,899.34) shed 24.8 points yesterday. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 22.71) rose 0.3 point on Tuesday.

In case you missed a thing yesterday, here are the highlights from Tuesday:

• KEYS Unlocks Fresh Highs Ahead of Earnings
• Signal Says Pharmaceutical Stock Has Room to Run
• Record Highs Within Reach for COST After Dividend Declaration
• Value Investors Should Consider Adding Denny's Stock
• Options Bulls Hammer Home Depot Stock After Earnings Beat
• Blue-Chip Mega Retailer Wavers Despite Q3 Earnings Beat
• BIDU Brushes Off Q3 Beat, Bull Notes
• This Sports Retailer Has Weathered the Pandemic Well

Today investors will be able to unpack October's housing and building permits which are slated to be reported today as the only economic data of note. We will, however, see some big retail names entering the earnings confessional, including Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), Target (NYSE:TGT), Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK), and L Brands (NYSE:LB).

For your convenience, we have rounded up the companies slated to release earnings today, November 18:

Avaya Holdings Corp. (NYSE:AVYA -- $19.49) provides digital communications products, solutions, and services for businesses worldwide. Avaya Holdings will report its first-quarter earnings of 2021 before the bell today.

BrightView Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BV -- $15.27) provides commercial landscaping services in the United States. BrightView will report its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC -- $37.31) provides cloud services to businesses and organizations in China. Kingsoft Cloud will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW -- $159.86) operates as a home improvement retailer. Lowe's will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Spire, Inc. (NYSE:SR -- $64.54) engages in the purchase, retail distribution, and sale of natural gas. Spire will report its fourth-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT -- $163.04) operates as a general merchandise retailer in the United States. Target will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX -- $61.14) operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer. TJX will report its third-quarter earnings before the bell today.

Bilibili, Inc. (NASDAQ:BILI -- $50.05) provides online entertainment services for the young generations in the People's Republic of China. Bilibili will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA -- $73.53) provides airline passenger and cargo services. Copa Holdings will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT -- $116.19) provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. Copart will report its first-quarter earnings of 2021 after the market closes today.

Jack in The Box, Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK -- $87.06) operates and franchises Jack in the Box quick-service restaurants. Jack in The Box will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS -- $117.56) provides electronic design and test solutions. Keysight will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC -- $29.31) designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools to assemble semiconductor devices. Kulicke & Soffa will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

L Brands, Inc. (NYSE:LB -- $35.45) operates as a specialty retailer of women's intimate and other apparel, personal care, and beauty and home fragrance products. L Brands will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN -- $34.44) provides conversational artificial intelligence (AI) innovations. Nuance Communications will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA -- $536.89) operates as a visual computing company worldwide. NVIDIA will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS -- $45.24) provides financial technology solutions and services. PagSeguro Digital will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCVL -- $36.08) operates as a family footwear retailer in the United States. Shoe Carnival will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM -- $45.38) produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients and other products and services. Sociedad Quimica y Minera will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONO -- $17.14) designs, develops, manufactures, and sells multi-room audio products. Sonos will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI -- $36.26) distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services. UGI will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

ZTO Express (Cayman), Inc. (NYSE:ZTO -- $33.06) provides express delivery and other value-added logistics services in the People's Republic of China. ZTO Express will report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes today.

Here is a quick recap of how yesterday’s earning calls panned out compared to expectations:

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK -- $35.13) provides food, facilities, and uniform services. Earnings per share fell 151.47% over the past year to ($0.35), which missed the estimate of ($0.34). Revenue of $2,692,000,000 decreased by 31.87% year over year, which beat the estimate of $2,660,000,000.

Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. (NYSE: AQUA -- $28.36) provides a range of water and wastewater treatment systems and technologies, and mobile and emergency water supply solutions and services. Earnings per share rose 2800.00% year over year to $0.29, which beat the estimate of $0.22. Revenue of $383,861,000 declined by 6.94% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $372,860,000.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD -- $279.57) engages in the sale of building materials and home improvement products. Earnings per share increased 25.69% year over year to $3.18, which beat the estimate of $3.05. Revenue of $33,536,000,000 up by 23.19% year over year, which beat the estimate of $32,040,000,000.

Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS -- $26.15) operates as a retail company in the United States. Earnings per share decreased 98.65% year over year to $0.01, which beat the estimate of ($0.43). Revenue of $3,979,000,000 decreased by 13.97% from the same period last year, which beat the estimate of $3,860,000,000.

Sea Limited (NYSE: SE -- $178.22) engages in the digital entertainment, e-commerce, and digital financial service businesses. Earnings per share fell 43.75% over the past year to ($0.69), which missed the estimate of ($0.53). Revenue of $1,212,000,000 higher by 58.79% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $1,400,000,000.

Walmart, Inc. (NYSE: WMT -- $152.44) engages in the retail and wholesale operations in various formats worldwide. Earnings per share rose 15.52% over the past year to $1.34, which beat the estimate of $1.18. Revenue of $134,708,000,000 rose by 5.25% year over year, which beat the estimate of $132,230,000,000.

Varex Imaging Corporation (NASDAQ: VREX -- $14.62) designs and manufactures X-ray imaging components. Earnings per share fell 108.70% year over year to ($0.04), which beat the estimate of ($0.10). Revenue of $170,000,000 decreased by 16.01% year over year, which beat the estimate of $162,100,000.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, plenty of data is due out on Thursday. This data includes jobless claims data, the Philly Fed index, and existing home sales. Also set to be reported on is last month's leading economic indicators. All earnings and economic dates listed here are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

The shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) are up 1.5% at $385.65 at last check, after the big box retailer declared a special dividend of $10 per share, totaling $4.4 billion. The dividend will be funded through existing cash and paid on Dec. 11. This marks the company's fourth dividend payout in eight years, as higher demand for bulk items and other goods during the pandemic helps spark sales growth. 

Today's bump puts COST right below its Nov. 9 record high of $389.50, though the security may be set for its highest close ever -- if these gains hold. From a technical standpoint, the 60-day moving average looks like a strong leg of support going forward, as has captured several pullbacks over the past five months. Year-to-date, Costco stock is up 31.3%.

Stifel responded to the news with a price-target hike to $390 from $380, putting the 12-month consensus price target at $374.46 -- a 2.9% discount to current levels. Should COST continue to  rise, more analysts could follow Stifel's lead. Meanwhile, the security boasts 17 "buy" or better ratings, compared to just six "holds," and not a single "sell" on the books. 

Options traders have been singing a different tune. Though calls are still outpacing puts on an overall basis, the equity's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.76 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 98% of readings from the past year. This suggests puts have rarely been more popular during these past 12 months. 

Bulls are prevailing today, however. So far, 17,000 calls have crossed the tape -- double the intraday average -- compared to 9,111 puts. The November 390 call is seeing the most action, followed by the 387.50 call in the same monthly series, with new positions being opened at the former.

Restaurant chain Denny’s Corporation (NYSE:DENN) now operates in more than 1,700 locations all over the world. Most restaurant stocks suffered significantly from the March coronavirus crash, but most have also recovered at this point. While Denny’s has been able to shift its business to delivery and carry-out successfully in 2020, DENN is still trailing its restaurant stock peers. 

Denny's stock is down about 45% year-to-date but has more than doubled from its March lows. However, the shares have recently seen their recovery stunted by their overhead 200-day moving average, despite many of its competitors nearly reaching or even surpassing their pre-COVID stock prices. So while Denny’s stock is significantly off its March 19 seven-year lows of $4.50, at its current perch of $10.75, it still has some work to do to attain its pre-pandemic levels near $22.

A short squeeze can help DENN reach those heights again. Short sellers built their positions by 47.8% in the most recent reporting period, and the 4.36 million shares sold short accounts for a healthy 7.3% of the stock's total available float. At DENN's average pace of trading, it would take shorts three days to buy back their bearish bets.

Options traders will be pleased to know DENN premium is affordably priced. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 67% stands higher than just 23% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. 

As far as earnings goes, Denny’s has beat earnings expectations on three of its four most recent earnings reports. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Denny's beat expectations by $0.06, reporting an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.23. To kick off 2020, Denny's dropped its EPS to $0.17 in the first quarter, still beating expectations by a margin of $0.06. The company, again, dropped its reported EPS in the second quarter of 2020. This time, the drop was much more drastic and fell all the way to a reported EPS of $0.06. Though expectations were bleak for Denny's most recent quarterly report, the company reported a positive EPS of $0.01 instead of the expected -$0.03 loss. Denny's beat its earnings target by $0.04.

All fundamental signs seem to point toward a recovery for Denny’s stock in the coming years. Although the company’s 2019 revenue was weak compared to growth documented in previous years, Denny’s had an amazing 2019 fiscal year in terms of net income. In 2019, Denny's nearly tripled its net profits produced as compared to its 2018 net income. As a reaction to the pandemic, Denny’s has been able to shift its business to delivery and carry-out successfully in 2020. Despite a huge decline in revenue over the past 12 months, Denny’s has the potential now to end the year in the profit zone. This is a major achievement when considering how dependent Denny's had previously been on its dine-in restaurant experience.