GoDaddy will unveil earnings later this week
Domain marketplace GoDaddy Inc (NYSE:GDDY) is readying to report earnings after the close this Thursday, Aug. 2, and the stock will be aiming for a fourth straight post-earnings gain. Ahead of the event, SunTrust Robinson just weighed in by upping its price target for GDDY shares to $87 from $80, predicting all-time highs. For reference, the current record peak is $80.42, touched just last week.
Overall, the equity has performed exceptionally well on the charts thanks in part to those strong earnings performances, rising more than 75% in the past 12 months. While GoDaddy is down 1.3% at $75.81 today, the shares remain just above the 50-day moving average, which has consistently contained pullbacks during the past year.
Turning to options activity, volume on GDDY has been light on an absolute basis, with just 220 calls and 144 puts bought to open during the past 10 days at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). But anyone wanting to speculate on the security should note that puts are attracting much higher-than-normal volatility expectations when compared to calls, according to the 30-day implied volatility skew of 41.4% -- just 1 percentage point from a 12-month extreme.
The other notable data point for GDDY comes outside the options pits, as short interest has continued to rise on the stock, despite the strong fundamentals and technicals. In fact, short interest has been increasing consistently since March, including an 11.7% rise in the last two reporting periods. GoDaddy's short interest ratio now stands at 5.0, meaning it would take a week for short sellers to cover their positions, making the security a potential beneficiary of a short squeeze.