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An earnings beat wasn't enough to save HBI today
The shares of Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE:HBI) are down 15.4% at $13.84 this morning, despite a third-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The company attributed the strong results to a 70% increase in online sales. However, the stock is still slipping, after the company's fourth-quarter revenue forecast came in lower than expected, due to pandemic-related uncertainty.
The drop has HBI further distancing itself from its late-October annual highs just below the $18 mark. Now, HBI is pacing for its first close below the 80-day moving average since May. The equity is now down 8.1% for the year.
Analysts are still split on the security, with five "buy" or better ratings, compared to four "hold" or worse ratings. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $16.36 is a 16.3% premium.
Sentiment in the options pits has been far more bullish. This is per HBI's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 17.44 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio stands higher than 87% of all other readings from the past year, suggesting long calls are being picked up at a much quicker-than-usual clip.
Meanwhile, short sellers are starting to hit the exits. Short interest dropped 10.4% in the last two reporting periods. Despite this drop, the 31.61 million shares sold short make up a solid 9.2% of HBI's available float, and would take six days to cover, at its average pace of trading.