The tech giant said a new video uploaded Tuesday night violated policies for inciting violence
The shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are up 0.3% at $1,741.34 this morning, after the major tech name removed new content uploaded to President Donald Trump's YouTube channel, noting it violated policies for inciting violence. Trump's channel is now suspended from uploading videos or livestreams for at least seven days, though that could be extended. The company is following in on the footsteps of Twitter (TWTR), Snap (SNAP) and Facebook (FB), which suspended Trump's accounts after the president's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Digging deeper, the security has been chopping lower since its Dec. 3, all-time-high of $1,843.83. And while shares are now struggling with overhead pressure at the $1,800 level, the 60-day moving average has contained at least two of equity's latest pullbacks. Longer term, GOOGL sports a 21.6% year-over-year lead.
Analysts are overwhelmingly optimistic towards Alphabet stock, with 28 of the 30 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating. Echoing this is the security's 12-month consensus target price of $1,936.65, which is an 11.5% premium to current levels.
That optimism is echoed in the options pits, where calls are king. This is per the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.98 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 86% of readings from the past year. This means calls are being picked up at a much quicker-than-usual pace.
For those looking to weigh in on Alphabet stock's next move with options, now seems like a solid opportunity. The security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 34% sits in the relatively low 25th percentile of its annual range, meaning options players are pricing in low volatility expectations at the moment.