3D Systems Corporation (DDD) Options Active as Stock Soars

3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) is up 5.2% this afternoon at $33.04, bringing its week-to-date gain to nearly 16%. In fact, the 3-D printer maker is poised to end the week atop its 10-week moving average for the first time since mid-September. Against this backdrop, DDD options are trading at twice the average intraday clip.

Currently, DDD calls outnumber puts by a margin of roughly 2-to-1. It looks like short-term bulls are buying to open the February 33 call, amid hopes for DDD to extend its rally through next Friday's close, when front-month options expire. In light of the security's pop today, delta on the call has surged to 0.54 from 0.28 at yesterday's close, reflecting a greater than 1-in-2 shot of expiring in the money.

Meanwhile, the most active DDD options are the February 65 and May 50 puts and calls, where symmetrical blocks of 4,000 contracts traded. More specifically, it looks like the speculator may have initiated a couple of bearishly biased spreads, gambling on DDD to turn tail on the charts.

While the catalyst behind 3D Systems Corporation's (NYSE:DDD) jump today is unclear, some are attributing it to a short squeeze. Short interest represents more than one-third of the stock's total available float, and would take nearly 13 sessions to buy back, at DDD's average pace of trading. Should the equity extend its upward momentum, an exodus among the bears could translate into additional upside.