Revance Therapeutics Inc (RVNC) hit an annual high earlier on upbeat drug trial results
Revance Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RVNC) announced earlier that
its anti-wrinkle drug showed promise in a mid-stage study, and said it expects to launch a late-stage trial in the second half of 2016. Wall Street is reacting positively, as evidenced by the stock's nearly 30% midday jump to trade at $34.58. In fact, the shares have now more than doubled in 2015, and earlier topped out at an annual high of $36.89.
This is good news for recent call buyers. RVNC has racked up a call/put volume ratio of 2.33 during the last 10 weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). In other words, traders have bought to open more than twice as many
calls as
puts in recent months. Today, though, puts are crossing at 12 times the usual intraday rate, and outstripping calls by a slight margin.
Sentiment is upbeat among analysts, too, as all three firms tracking RVNC have doled out "strong buy" recommendations. Moreover, short sellers have been quickly unwinding their bearish bets, with
short interest dropping by one-quarter during the latest reporting period. However, 9% of the equity's float remains dedicated to short interest, and would require 7.5 sessions to cover, at typical volumes. In other words, a continued unwinding of these positions could fuel further upside in Revance Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RVNC) shares.