New York Community Bancorp is bouncing from a record low, meanwhile
Despite acting in vastly different sectors, the shares of New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) and Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) are both surging today. Below, we'll look into what's propping up each stock, and how the options pits are responding to their respective surges.
Options Traders Target Embattled NYCB
NYCB was last seen 7.7% higher at $3.73, after the bank concern said it secured $1 billion from investors, including Citadel Global Equities, Hudson Bay Capital, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital, and Reverence Capital Partners. Shares are bouncing off a March 6, record low of $1.70, and have already shed more than 64% in 2024.
Drilling down today's options activity,148,000 calls and 120,000 puts have crossed the tape already, which is triple the volume typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 3/8 4-strike call, where new positions are currently being bought to open. This means these traders expect additional upside for NYCB by the time these contracts expire at the close tomorrow.
KR Eyes Best Day Since March 2022
Grocery giant Kroger today issued an upbeat annual profit and sales forecast, amid higher demand for its products, and announced top- and bottom-line wins for the fourth quarter. The security is up 8.4% to trade at $54.72 at last check after earlier notching a fresh 52-week high of $54.91. KR is also on track for its best day since March 2022, while eyeing a third-straight daily win.
Options volume is running at 10 times the intraday average so far today, with 59,000 calls and 21,000 puts exchanged. The weekly 3/8 55-strike call is the most active contract, with new positions opening there.