The company's insulin pump was approved for use in children as young as six
Shares of Tandem Diabetes Care Inc (NASDAQ:TNDM) are up 20.4% in electronic trading, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the medical device maker's insulin pump. The treatment for hypoglycemia is the first of its kind approved for use in children as young as six years old -- and now TNDM stock is set to open at its highest mark since March 2017.
Heading into today's trading, the shares had swelled nearly 850% from their mid-February record low of $2.14 -- settling last night at $20.31. Plus, Tandem Diabetes stock is coasting toward a sixth straight double-digit monthly percentage gain, and topped out at an annual high of $21.50 on Wednesday.
The stock has been rallying amid some intense selling pressure, too, which speaks to its underlying strength. Short interest roughly doubled between the Feb. 1 and June 1 reporting periods to 2.29 million shares. This represents a significant 45.6% of TNDM's available float.
The security has been popular among options traders, too, relatively speaking. There are currently 18,269 calls and 8,879 puts open on Tandem -- putting total open interest in the 98th percentile of its annual range. In fact, this figure topped out at a 12-month high of 30,711 contracts outstanding one week ago today. Most of this action has been centered at the August 7.50 put and 10 call, and could be the result of one or more shareholders initiating a collar.