Some Aterian shareholders are eligible for discounts on best-selling products
Consumer products platform concern Aterian Inc (NASDAQ:ATER) is surging today, last seen up 19.3% to trade at $7.25 at last check. This pop comes after the company announced a new benefits program, which will give shareholders discounts on best selling products on its websites, as well as Amazon.com (AMZN). According to Aterian, shareholders enrolled in the program should begin receiving weekly emails starting this Friday.
Options traders are taking note of today's news, with volume running at 13 times what's typically seen at this point. More specifically, 45,000 calls have crossed the tape, which is 14 times the intraday average, while 8,184 puts have also exchanged hands. The most active contract is the September 10 call, followed by the 7.50 call from the same monthly series, with new positions being opened at both. This means these traders expect to see plenty more upside for Aterian stock in the upcoming month.
Many on social media are calling ATER a strong potential short squeeze candidate. An unwinding of short interest could push ATER even higher, as there's ample pent-up buying power. In fact, the 5.78 million shares sold short represent a healthy 24.6% of the stock's available float, and would take nearly three days to cover, at the stock's average pace of trading.
The security is recovering from an early August bear gap that sent the shares trade to their lowest level in over a year. And though ATER still has some ground to cover to overcome its 57.7% year-to-date deficit, as well as pressure from several major trendlines on the charts, it's heading for a six-day winning streak -- a feat it last achieved in February when the stock scored an all-time high of $48.99.
