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GoPro Inc (GPRO) Options Traders Target New Record Lows

GoPro Inc (GPRO) breached its IPO price for the first time ever today

Nov 12, 2015 at 1:41 PM
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For the first time ever, GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) is trading below its IPO price of $24 per share. At last check, the stock is down 5.6% at $23.70, and fresh off a record low of $23.44, eliciting attention from at least one group of short-term option bears.

Turning to the data, one of GPRO's most active options is the weekly 11/13 23-strike put. By buying these positions to open, traders anticipate the stock will breach $23 -- and hit even lower lows -- by tomorrow's close, when the weekly series expires. Given today's drop, delta on this put option has moved to negative 24% from negative 3.8% at Wednesday's close, suggesting the chances of an in-the-money finish have increased more than six-fold. However, even if GPRO stays above the strike through expiration, the most the buyers can lose is the initial premium paid.

Taking a step back, put buyers have been active in recent sessions. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.67 across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks in the top quartile of its annual range. In other words, traders have displayed a greater-than-usual appetite for bearish bets over bullish of late.

The pessimism doesn't end there. After increasing 48% during the last two reporting periods, short interest now represents half of GPRO's total float. Historically speaking, this is the highest level of short interest the equity has ever seen.

Given the stock's aforementioned technical performance, this shouldn't come as a surprise. GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) has lost 62.5% of its value in 2015, and on a relative-strength basis, has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by a jaw-dropping 54 percentage points during the past 60 sessions.
 

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