Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) touched a record high earlier, and short-term call buyers are betting on more upside
As with
another Internet powerhouse,
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is fresh off
a new all-time high of $796.85. At last check, the shares were still on the doorstep of the $800 century level, up 1.8% at $796.52. Suffice it to say, bearish option traders may be in a world of hurt.
During the last four weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), long puts have outstripped long calls in GOOGL's options pits. This is according to the stock's 20-day put/call volume ratio of 1.26.
Echoing this negative sentiment is GOOGL's
Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.01, which outranks 85% of similar readings from the prior 12 months. In other words, speculators targeting options expiring in the next three months have rarely been as put-focused in the last year.
The set-up is quite different today, though. Specifically, 17,000 calls are on the tape -- nearly tripling the number of puts traded -- and buy-to-open activity is detected at the weekly 12/31 800-strike call. In other words, these traders believe GOOGL will topple the round $800 level -- and touch fresh record highs -- by Thursday's close, when the
weekly series expires.
These call buyers are
joined in the optimistic camp by analysts. An astounding 94% of brokerage firms tracking Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rate it a "buy" or better, with not a single "sell" rating on the books.