The telecommunications concern saw a core wireless revenue jump
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is up 3.5% at $20.11 this morning, after the company reported first-quarter earnings of 77 cents per share, as well as a revenue beat. The telecommunications concern saw a core wireless revenue jump, as it benefitted from the expansion of its fiber internet and 5G services. AT&T reiterated that it is focusing on its original business of providing internet and phone services, after years of dedicating itself to the media and entertainment space.
The equity is now trading at its highest level since January, after notching support at the 20-day moving average in March. Today's pop is also helping AT&T stock further distance itself from its Dec. 15, roughly 12-year low of $16.62. Year-to-date, T sports an 8.1% lead.
In the past 10 weeks, puts have been more popular than usual. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), T's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.54 ranks higher than 96% of readings in its annual range. This means that while long calls are still outnumbering long puts on an overall basis, the latter are getting picked up at a much quicker-than-usual pace.
Today, options bulls are targeting AT&T stock straight out of the gate. So far, 68,000 calls have crossed the tape, or triple the intraday average, and more than double the 21,000 puts exchanged. Most popular is the January 2023 22-strike call, where new positions are being opened, followed by the weekly 4/22 20-strike call.