Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) received a price-target hike to $520 from $475 at Piper Jaffray, which has been a boon to the shares. At last check, the e-commerce stock has added 1.4% at $437.18, bringing its year-to-date gain to almost 41%. Not surprisingly, call options are crossing at an accelerated clip.
Taking a quick step back, AMZN
puts have been more popular than usual at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) lately. The equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.90 ranks in the top one-third of all comparable readings from the past year.
Today, however, calls are being exchanged at 1.4 times the intraday norm, edging out puts 27,000 contracts to 22,000. The weekly 6/5 series is in focus, accounting for nine of AMZN's 10 most active strikes. Possible buy-to-open activity is detected at the weekly 6/5 435-, 437.50-, and 440-strike calls, suggesting short-term speculators anticipate additional upside through week's end, when the series expires.
Looking ahead, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will hold its annual shareholder meeting one week from today, where it's likely
the company's slate of new developments will be discussed. In spite of the anticipation surrounding this upcoming event, the stock's short-term options are still pricing in relatively low volatility expectations, based on its Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 22% -- which ranks in the 9th percentile of its annual range.