BlackBerry stock is soaring out of penny stock territory today
Tech stock BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) is up 20.6% at $5.22 at last glance, after the company posted strong first-quarter results and lifted its annual revenue forecast. A handful of analysts lifted their price targets after the event, with the largest coming from Baird to $5 from $4.
Today's pop has BB jumping out of penny stock territory for the first time since February's two-year peak of $6.24. The shares have been steadily rising since their early-April lows below $3, with recent support at the 20-day moving average. Year to date, the equity is up 34%.
Call traders have been quick to the draw this morning. So far, the stock has seen 64,000 calls exchanged in comparison to just 7,609 puts, with overall options activity already at 4.2 times the average daily volume. The weekly 6/27 5.50-strike call is the most popular by far, with new positions being bought to open there.
Be on the lookout for more analyst revisions. Of the five brokerages covering BB, four are on the sidelines with "hold" ratings, while the consensus 12-month price target of $4.45 is now a 11.1% discount to its current perch.
Short interest has been building over the last month, despite the stock's 35% jump during that time, and now represents 5.9% of the stock's available float, so some of today's price action could be attributed to short covering.