The company has continued to dump its media assets
Shares of AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) are trading at three-year highs today, up 4.2% at $23.66 at last check, after the company announced a $20 billion share buyback and expectations of earnings growth over the next three years. Since the start of the year, T is up 41.1%, with many attributing the gains to CEO John Stankey's decision to dump media assets and return to roots in telecommunications.
AT&T stock posted its seventh-straight monthly gain in November, with close support from the 60-day moving average since May. On track for its fifth consecutive winning quarter, the equity is now trading at its highest levels since May 2021.
Options bulls are chiming in on T today, with 56,000 calls exchanged so far -- four times the call volume typically seen at this point -- in comparison to just 14,000 puts. The weekly 12/6 24-strike call is the most popular, with new positions being bought to open there.
This penchant for calls isn't entirely unusual, given the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.55 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 78% of readings from the past year.