The company announced a second-quarter earnings and revenue beat
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is down 1.7% to trade at $107.79 at last glance, despite the company's strong second-quarter earnings and revenue, both of which beat estimates. The health care concern's full-year profit forecast is weighing on shares, with analysts calling it "conservative."
On the charts, ABT has been struggling to rebound from its June 17, nearly two-year low of $101.24, with recent pressure from the descending 50-day moving average. Year-to-date, the equity is down 23.5%.
Analysts have yet to chime in with bear notes today, despite being less than enthused with ABT's modest forecast. There is plenty of room for pessimism, though, as all 11 in coverage sport a "buy" or better rating.
Options traders, meanwhile, have been much more bearish than usual. This is per the security's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.81 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which stands in the 94th percentile of its annual range.
A shift in sentiment appears to be occurring today, however. So far, 4,727 calls have been in exchange, in comparison to 2,971 puts, with overall volume running at four times the intraday average. The weekly 7/22 110-strike call is the most popular, but positions are being opened at the weekly 7/29 110-strike call.