The company said it received proposed labeling for its depression drug candidate
Axsome Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AXSM) is surging today, after the company said it has received proposed labeling from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for AXS-05, its drug candidate to treat major depressive disorder. The treatment currently has a marketing application under review. At last check, the security is up 45.1% to trade at $35.48.
The brokerage bunch is yet to chime in, but is already optimistic on AXSM, with eight of the 10 in coverage calling it a "strong buy." Plus, the 12-month consensus target price of $78 is a 131.4% premium to current levels. Meanwhile, short interest is up 10.3% in the last two reporting periods, and accounts for 16.1% of the stock's available float. Should some of this pessimism begin to unwind, shares could surge higher still.
Additional tailwinds could come from a shift in the options pits. Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AXSM sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.55 that sits higher than 93% of readings from the last 12 months. This means long puts are getting picked up at a much quicker-than-usual clip.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 6,852 and 3,014 calls have crossed the tape, which is nine times the intraday average. Most popular is the July 30 call, followed by the 12.50 put in the same series.
The equity is today trading at its highest level since May, while looking to settle above resistance from the 30-day moving average. Today's pop follows a pullback to the $20 region -- its lowest level since August -- though year-over-year AXSM remains down 55%.