Twitter stock stumbled after a hacking attack compromised high-profile users
Shares of social media giant Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) are down 3.3% this morning, last seen trading at $34.51 after a security hack occurred last night that targeted some of Twitter's highest-profile users, including former President Barack Obama, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, and others. However, as of this morning, those accounts are able to tweet once again. Twitter announced that the hackers accessed internal systems, and the company is now in the process of investigating the incident.
This news comes just a few days after we listed TWTR as a stock that was particularly attractive for options bulls. And while the social media giant has struggled to break above the $36 mark in recent weeks, it's worth noting that over the last three months, TWTR has tacked on 34.4%.
As was the case before, analysts are still skeptical regarding Twitter stock, with 21 of the 24 in coverage still calling it a "hold." However, short interest is down 16.2% in the last two reporting periods, and the 34.87 million shares sold short represent just 4.6% of the stock's available float, or a little over a day's worth of pent-up buying power, at the equity's average pace of trading.
Lastly, the options pits signal calls as the favorable move for traders. This is per TWTR's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.83 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio sits in the slightly lofty 68th percentile of its annual range, suggesting short-term options players have rarely been more bullish.