Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) is trading higher today on upbeat iPhone 7 reports
Semiconductor stocks are rallying today, following upbeat reports about
Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 7 production. Among those enjoying sector tailwinds is integrated circuit specialist
Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS), which is up 2.3% at $66.04. SWKS' positive price action has sparked a rush of call activity in the stock's options pits, with volume running at 1.4 times the average intraday rate.
Most active by a mile is SWKS' weekly 6/3 69-strike call, where it seems safe to assume
new positions are being purchased. If this is the case, the goal is for the stock to topple $69 by next Friday's close, when the weekly options expire. Although the equity hasn't traded north of here since taking
an earnings-induced tumble in late April,
the most the call buyers have risked is the initial premium paid.
More broadly speaking, today's accelerated call activity runs counter to the withstanding trend seen in SWKS' options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.31 sits just 2 percentage points from a 52-week peak. In other words,
put options have been bought to open over
call options at a near-annual-high clip.
What's more, the stock sports a
Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.64 -- higher than all other comparable readings taken in the past 52 weeks. Simply stated, short-term speculators are more put-heavy toward SWKS than they've been over the last 12 months.
Now appears to be the time for options buyers to strike on the equity's short-term strikes, too. Not only does its Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 33% rank in the 11th annual percentile, but its 30-day at-the-money implied volatility of 33.9% rests lower than 94% of similar readings taken over the past year. Summing it all up, premium on SWKS' near-term options is pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.
On the charts, Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) has been a long-term laggard, shedding 36% year-over-year. However, today's pop has shares of SWKS on track to close north of their 20-day moving average for the first time since mid-April.
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