Amazon is purchasing MGM Studios for $8.45 billion
Amazon.com Inc (NYSE:AMZN) is in the spotlight today, after its much-talked-about deal with MGM Holdings finally came to fruition. This morning, the e-commerce giant announced that it will be purchasing MGM Studios for an ambitious $8.45 billion, catapulting the company deeper into the entertainment business. Leaders within Amazon, including Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, and CEO Jeff Bezos, appear to be most focused on MGM's vast amount of intellectual property (IP), which will provide many storytelling opportunities.
AMZN has effectively bounced off the $3,150 level after taking a breather following its April 30 record high of $3,554. Staring down three-straight weekly losses, the stock is up 0.8% to trade at $3,280.79 at last check, and hovering just above its year-to-date breakeven, while the round $3,300 level looms above also.
Elsewhere, the options pits have been much more bullish than usual in the past 10 weeks. This is per AMZN's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.56 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) , which stands higher than 97% of readings from the past year.
Coming into today, the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 22% stood higher than just 4% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations. Today, the equity appears to be experiencing a volatility crush after the buyout news, with the stock's implied volatility (IV) touching a 52-week low.