The company lifted its full-year guidance ahead of its July 29 earnings report
Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK) is seeing a surge today, up 10.2% at $5.93 at last check, and options traders are taking notice. So far, 333,000 calls and 44,000 puts have exchanged hands -- five times the intraday average. The July 6 call is the most popular, followed by the 6.5 call, with positions being bought to open at both. This bullish reaction comes after Nokia said it plans to lift its full-year guidance, just ahead of its second-quarter earnings report, which will be released on Thursday, July 29.
Today's pop has put NOK at its highest level since its late-January surge -- back when the meme stock craze began to really run amuck, with Nokia as one of its poster children. The stock quickly dipped from this unprecedented climb to the $9.79 level, though a bull gap in late-April has helped the security rebound, with a solid strand of support emerging at the 40-day moving average and keeping Nokia stock at a substantial 51.4% year-to-date lead.
Today's preference for calls is reflective of recent sentiment in the options pits, where 12.53 calls have been picked up for every put at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). For those wanting to speculate on Nokia's next move ahead of the firm's upcoming earnings, options could be a solid bet. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 44% stands higher than just 4% of readings from the last year. This means options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.