One CTL option bear may be rolling their July puts down
It's a mostly lower session on Wall Street today, as traders react to a dismal retail sales report. Among individual stocks making notable moves are retailer Canada Goose Holdings Inc (NYSE:GOOS), New York-based real estate investment trust (REIT) SL Green Realty Corp (NYSE:SLG), and telecommunications name CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL). Here's a quick look at what's moving the shares of GOOS, SLG, and CTL.
Canada Goose Set to Snap Daily Win Streak
Canada Goose stock is down 12.5% at $68.62 in reaction to the company said profit margins fell to 76.1% in the fiscal third quarter from 76.5% one year ago, due to higher labor costs and overseas investments. This, alongside the weak U.S. retail sales reading, is offsetting the Toronto-based firm's stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, and upwardly revised full-year adjusted earnings and revenue growth forecasts.
GOOS shares are now on track to snap their four-day winning streak, and settle below their 200-day moving average for the first time since Feb. 1. Options traders, meanwhile, are blasting the stock, with more than 24,000 calls and 12,000 puts exchanged -- seven times what's typically seen, and volume pacing in the 100th annual percentile. The February 55 and March 55 and 60 calls are most active, with new positions being initiated at each option.
SLG Stock Hit By Amazon HQ2 News
The shares of SL Green Realty are 1.6% lower today at $90.83, after Amazon (AMZN) said it has ended plans to build a new headquarters in New York City. Longer term, SLG stock is up 18.3% from its Dec. 26 six-year low of $76.77, and is now trading between support at its 20-day moving average and a potential ceiling near $94, home to its late-October highs.
Short sellers, meanwhile, likely gave an assist to SLG during its recent run higher. Short interest fell 9.2% in the two most recent reporting periods to 2.22 million shares. This potential source of buying power isn't dried up yet, though, considering it would take almost four days to cover the remaining bearish bets, at the equity's average daily pace of trading.
CenturyLink Put Volume Peaks Post-Earnings
CenturyLink last night reported a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter adjusted profit of 37 cents per share on in-line revenue of $5.78 billion. However, the company said it was more than halving its annual dividend to $1 per share from $2.16 per share. In reaction, CTL stock is down 12.4% today at a 22-year low of $19.88.
A round of bearish brokerage notes is exacerbating headwinds for the telecom. J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded CTL to "neutral" from "overweight," and joined no fewer than three other analysts in cutting their price targets on the stock, saying the dividend announcement "creates questions on long-term trends."
CTL options volume is running hot today, with 74,000 puts, a new annual high, and 48,000 calls on the tape, nearly four times what's typically seen at this point. The July 10 puts are most active, and Trade-Alert suggests this is due to one speculator rolling their bearish position down from the July 12 puts -- eyeing a move into single digits over the next five months.