BAC calls were popular ahead of the bank's quarterly report
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock is up 0.2% to trade at $29.90 this morning, even after the banking concern reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations. CEO Brian Moynihan noted that strong client activity, as well as higher interest rates and the new U.S. tax code, helped generate record quarterly earnings.
Bank of America stock is now trading a fraction above its year-to-date breakeven. The shares touched a post-recession high of $33.05 on March 12, but have since pulled back to test support in the $29 region. BAC stock has posted seven straight quarterly wins, although it is currently in the red this quarter.
In the options pits, calls were the rage ahead of BofA earnings. Data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.95. Not only does this show that bought BAC calls have outnumbered puts by a near 5-to-1 ratio, but the reading ranks in the 86th percentile of its annual range.
Digging deeper, the April 31 call has seen one of the largest increases in open interest during the past two weeks. The majority of the activity at this strike is of the buy-to-open variety, indicating options traders have been banking on a post-earnings bounce above $31 for BAC shares by the time the options expire this Friday.