KO is enjoying the aftermath of its knock-out earnings report
Beverage powerhouse and Dow stock Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) is enjoying a nice 2.9% post-earnings lift this morning, last seen trading near a fresh record high of $58.63. The company reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue beat, as well as topline growth after an increase in demand for its signature brand and Fuze tea lines.
Even ahead of today's earnings blowout, Coca-Cola stock was an outperformer on the charts. Now up 21% year-over-year, KO has been a beneficiary of the 80-day moving average since earlier this month, as well as back in May of last year.
Analysts have yet to weigh in on the security. However, heading into today covering firms were almost evenly split, with seven sporting a "hold" and six a "strong buy" recommendation.
Options traders are far from quiet, however, with 25,000 calls and 8,900 puts crossing the tape so far -- four times the expected rate. Most popular looks to be the weekly 2/7 58-strike put and March 60 call, with positions being opened at the former.
Digging deeper, the stock's Schaeffer's open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.55 ranks in just the 10th percentile of its annual range. This suggests short-term options players have rarely been more call-heavy during the last 12 months.