ERII's surge has attracted near-term option bulls
Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII) has skyrocketed 181.5% to $6.90, and earlier touched a six-year high of $8.16, after the company inked a
$125 million deal with Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB). Against this backdrop, ERII options volume has skyrocketed to more than 400 times the norm, with traders betting on even more short-term upside.
In the wake of the equity's surge, its at-the-money
implied volatility soared to a 52-week high of 143%, and was last seen 56.7% higher at 133.8%. ERII calls have more than doubled puts thus far, with the November 7.50 call attracting the most attention.
It looks like a handful of speculators are
buying the contracts to open at a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $1.07, meaning they'll profit the higher the stock climbs atop $8.57 (strike plus VWAP) by the close on Friday, Nov. 20, when front-month options expire.
Delta on the call sat at zero yesterday, as the options were so far out of the money, but has since surged to 0.48, implying the contracts have about a 1-in-2 shot of expiring in the money.
Outside of the options pits, a short squeeze could be helping Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERII). Short interest represents 7.4% of the stock's total available float, representing roughly 36 sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at ERII's average pace of trading.