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ARUN, GPS, and SFUN are moving sharply in Friday's trading
Around midday, three of the top market movers are network access expert Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN), apparel retailer The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS), and online real estate portal SouFun Holdings Ltd (NYSE:SFUN). Here's a quick roundup of how ARUN, GPS, and SFUN are performing on the charts so far.
- ARUN has staggered to an 11.5% loss at midday, hovering near $19.30. This, following a disappointing fiscal second-quarter outlook -- which is overshadowing the company's better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results -- and no fewer than six price-target cuts. Longer term, though, Aruba Networks, Inc. remains nearly 8% higher on a year-to-date basis. On the sentiment front, short sellers have been busy, with short interest spiking close to 16% during the most recent reporting period, and now comprising 9.3% of the equity's float. To put this in perspective, it would take more than a week to buy back all of these shorted shares, at ARUN's typical daily trading levels.
- GPS has tumbled 5.2% to trade at $38.07, after slashing its full-year profit forecast (and despite a third-quarter earnings beat). What's more, the stock got pummeled on the Street, as no fewer than six brokerage firms trimmed their respective price targets. As a result, The Gap Inc. is now sitting in the red on a year-to-date basis, and is at risk of closing the session below its 10-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 5. This is likely music to the ears of recent options traders. GPS' 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 1.32 sits above 74% of comparable readings from the last 12 months. In other words, speculators have been buying to open puts over calls at a faster-than-usual clip of late.
- SFUN has soared 17% to flirt with $9.23, getting a boost from China's surprise interest-rate reduction. However, the shares are still staring at a roughly 44% year-to-date deficit. As such, options traders have been betting bearishly in recent weeks, per SouFun Holdings Ltd's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.71. Not only does this reading indicate long puts have nearly doubled long calls over the past two weeks, it also ranks higher than 87% of comparable readings from the last year.