BlackBerry Options In Focus As Shares Hit Highest In 7 Weeks
BBRY ? BlackBerry Ltd. ? Shares in BlackBerry are moving higher today, up as much as 7.3% during the first half of the session to touch $7.75, the highest level since November 1st. Today?s gains add to the strong rally in BBRY shares seen on Friday on the heels of comments from the company?s interim CEO, John Chen. Currently trading at $7.64 on the day, the stock is up 40% since touching down at a record low of $5.44 on December 10th.
Upwards of 100,000 contracts have changed hands on BlackBerry as of 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday, which is around the total options volume the stock sees on average each day. Trading in BBRY calls is outpacing that of puts, with the call/put ratio hovering near 3.0 as of the time of this writing. Trading in far out of the money put options expiring in March, however, indicates some traders are prepared for the rebound in the price of the underlying to potentially reverse course during the next few months. It looks like traders snapped up around 2,500 of the Mar ?14 $4.0 strike puts at a premium of $0.08 each. The contracts may be profitable at expiration if shares in BlackBerry plunge roughly 50% from the current price of $7.64 to breach the breakeven point on the downside at $3.92.