Meta Platforms posted raised its current-quarter guidance
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is giving the market a boost with its post-earnings pop. The Big Tech giant beat top- and bottom-line expectations for the second quarter, and shared a strong current-quarter forecast, citing a rebound in online advertising as well as CEO Mark Zuckerberg's cost-cutting efforts. In response, no fewer than 20 analysts lifted their price targets.
At last glance, META was up 7.5% to trade at $320.90, after earlier scoring a fresh one-year high of $325.35. Long-term support from its 40-day moving average contained the Meta Platforms stock's last pullback. Year-to-date, the equity now sports a 167.9% lead.
Options traders are blasting the Facebook parent, with 307,000 calls and 193,000 puts exchanged already -- triple the amount typically seen at this point. Expiring tomorrow, the weekly 7/28 330-strike call is the most popular, with new positions being opened there.
Options bulls have been active leading up to the earnings event. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), META's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.85 ranks higher than 96% of readings from the past year.
Now looks like a good time to weigh in with options, too, per META's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 88 out of 100. This means the stock has tended to exceed options traders' volatility expectations over the past year.