Ambarella, Inc. (AMBA) Traders Count On a Pullback from Highs

Unlike sector peer GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) -- which has spent the entire morning south of breakeven -- Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA) has had a roller coaster session. The stock hit a fresh record high of $115.16 out of the gate before pulling back into the red, but was last seen a hair north of the flatline at $114.10. In options land, traders are rolling the dice on -- or protecting against -- a move lower by the end of the week.

At last check, puts are changing hands at almost three times the usual intraday rate. Most active is AMBA's weekly 6/12 110-strike put, where buy-to-open activity is detected. In other words, these put buyers think the shares will breach $110 by this Friday's close, when the weekly series expires.

This preference for short-term puts isn't unique. In fact, AMBA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.49 indicates put open interest outstrips call open interest among contracts set to expire in the next three months. What's more, this reading ranks in the 95th annual percentile.

In a similar vein, traders have been buying to open Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA) puts over calls at an accelerated clip of late. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.90 across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is higher than 81% of comparable readings from the past year. However, considering AMBA has more than doubled over the past year, it's possible that the recent affinity for long puts -- especially at out-of-the-money strikes -- could be attributable to shareholders seeking an options hedge.