Short-Term Option Bulls Rush GoPro Inc (GPRO)

Eleventh-hour call buyers are setting their sights on GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) this afternoon. The stock's most active option is the weekly 12/24 19-strike call, where it appears buy-to-open activity is transpiring. In a nutshell, these buyers believe the shares will topple $19 by the 1 p.m. ET close this Thursday, when the series expires.

Provoking these option bulls to bite are sharp gains in GPRO. At last check, the stock has added 2.1% to hover near $18.48 -- quite the change of pace for a security that's lost 70% of its value on a year-to-date basis.

Today's bullish catalyst is news that the GoPro Channel will be available starting next Tuesday on PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles. The channel, which is already available on Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox, allows gamers to stream content on-demand. "There's a sweet spot of overlap between PlayStation's super-engaged audience and the GoPro audience, and we're excited to welcome PlayStation to GoPro's expanding [over-the-top content] family," said Director of Content Distribution Jon Cohen in a statement.

Taking a step backward, traders have bought to open about twice as many GPRO calls as puts during the last two weeks, according to data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Specifically, the stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio is 1.96.

However, some of these call buyers may be bears in disguise. After all, 47.4% of GoPro Inc's (NASDAQ:GPRO) float is sold short, so short sellers may be purchasing calls to act as a hedge against an outsized move to the upside.