IB Options Brief: Unisys Corp. (UIS)

Posted April 25th, 2012 by Caitlin Duffy in Unusual Activity

Unisys Earnings Surprise A Boon For Pre-Report Call Buyers

UIS ñ Unisys Corp.
Higher-than-expected first-quarter profits reported by information technology services provider, Unisys Corp., on Tuesday sent shares in the name up sharply to the benefit of some pre-earnings report call buyers. Shares in Unisys, which had declined significantly this year, rose as much as 28.0% in the first half of the session to $20.98.

Bullish positions initiated in the front month prior to the earnings release have in some cases more than tripled in value. Of note, the purchase of some 745 May $17 strike call options for a premium of $1.00 on Friday April 20th, are now deep in-the-money and trade at $3.80 apiece.

Meanwhile, open interest in the May $18 strike calls suggests close to 300 contracts were picked up for a premium of $0.65 each yesterday afternoon. The spike in shares overnight now sees the $18 calls changing hands at a last-traded price of $2.95 per contract, a roughly 350% increase in premium.

Options on Unisys Corp. are far more active than usual overall today with some 5,350 contracts in play this afternoon versus the 90-day average options volume of 506 contracts on the stock. Traders are focusing their efforts in UIS calls, exchanging roughly 3.7 calls for each single put option traded.

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