Campbell Soup will announce its quarterly report before the open tomorrow
The shares of Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) are up 1.7% at $52.29 at last check. Though down 2.2% in the last five days, support has emerged at the shares' 30-day moving average, while a ceiling is forming at the $54 area. These are are important to monitor, considering the processed food giant's upcoming fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, which are due out before the open tomorrow, September 3.
Looking back at its past eight quarterly reports, six of CPB's post-earnings sessions were positive, including a 10.1% pop back in March. The security averaged a next-day return of 6.2%, regardless of direction, which is smaller than the 9.5% move the options market is pricing in this time around.
The stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.57 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 70% of readings from the past year. This means long calls are being picked up relatively faster rate in comparison to puts in the past 12 months.
Today is more of the same, though with higher-than-usual volume in the options pits. So far, 7,730 calls and 2,272 puts have crossed the tape -- four times what's typically seen at this point. The weekly 9/4 55-strike call is the most popular, with these traders betting on more upside for CPB the day after its report.
Also worth noting, the 17.97 million shares sold short account for 8.9% of the stock's available float. It would take nearly nine days to cover at CPB's average pace of trading, a hefty amount of buying power that could unwind and fuel additional tailwinds.