GPRO options are attractively priced, too
The shares of GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) are up more than 10% in electronic trading, after Oppenheimer upgraded the camera maker to "outperform" from "market perform" and set a price target of $9. The analyst in coverage is impressed with the company's new product launches, including the newly unveiled Hero7 camera. In addition, the brokerage expects the company to return to growth next year, calling the stock "overlooked."
GoPro stock is on track to trade at its highest point in nearly two months. It gapped higher on Aug. 3 following an upbeat quarterly report, but since then has traded in a tight range between the $6 and $7 area. Overall, the equity has rallied nearly 50% from its April 4 lows at $4.42.
The bullish analyst attention today is a rarity for the camera maker. All eight brokerages covering GPRO rate it a "hold" or worse. Further, the security's consensus 12-month price target of $6.58 sits just below last night's closing perch of $6.62. In other words, more upgrades and/or price-target hikes could drive the stock higher in the short term.
A short squeeze could fuel a rally as well. Short interest has steadily declined since January, yet the 24.77 million shares sold short represents a hefty 24% of the total available float. At the stock's average daily trading volume, it would take more than 12 days for shorts to buy back their bets.
Near-term options traders seem to be quite skeptical toward GPRO, based on the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.01, which ranks in the 94th percentile of its annual range. In other words, short-term traders have rarely been more put-heavy toward the security during the past year. An unwinding of pessimism in the options pits could also fuel further gains.
Traders wanting to bet on a short-term bounce may want to do so with GoPro options. The stock has a Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 50%, which ranks in just the 7th annual percentile. This reveals the stock's near-term options are pricing in unusually low volatility expectations at the moment.