The stock is trading at its highest level since April
English football club Manchester United PLC (NYSE:MANU) stock has pared some of its premarket gains, but is still up 9.8% to trade at $22.10 at last glance. Today's surge comes amid speculation that Qatar's Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani's takeover bid was successful.
MANU is trading at its highest level since mid-April, as well as several moving averages, including former pressure at the 160-day trendline. Year-to-date, the equity is still down around 6%.
Options traders are chiming in on the news, with 15,000 calls and 17,000 puts exchanged so far -- seven times the amount typically seen at this point. The June 20 and July 20 puts are the most active contracts, with new positions being opened at the latter. It's also worth noting that short interest represents 8.3% of the stock's available float.
Manchester United stock is gearing up for its upcoming earnings report, due out before the open on Friday, June 16. The equity has moved higher in five of its last eight post-earnings sessions. Over the last two years, MANU has averaged a next-day swing of 3.5%, in either direction.