AAPL suppliers CRUS and SWKS are attracting bearish options attention amid iPhone speculation
Tech titan
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is feeling the heat, amid
more iPhone sales speculation. Japan's Nikkei said the
blue chip will reduce iPhone output by about 30% in the current quarter, sending AAPL shares 2.1% lower to $103.19. What's more, option bears are bombarding Apple suppliers
Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) and
Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS), which are also notably lower.
CRUS is down 5.3% at $27.74, on pace for its lowest close since late September. Intraday put volume is running at four times the average pace, and is outpacing call volume by a margin of roughly 5-to-1. In fact, CRUS' put/call volume ratio of 5.07 is higher than 99% of all other readings from the past year. Meanwhile, CRUS'
30-day at-the-money implied volatility (IV) has popped 10.8% to 68.6%, just shy of an annual high.
It looks like short-term bears are buying to open CRUS' weekly 1/8 28-strike put -- the most active option so far -- at a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $0.94. By doing so, the
buyers' profit will increase the lower CRUS sinks south of $27.06 (strike minus VWAP) by Friday's close, when the options expire. Slightly longer-term bears are scooping up the January 2016 27.50-strike puts, amid expectations that CRUS will extend its journey south of the strike through expiration at next Friday's close.
Pessimism is nothing new for Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) option buyers. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's
10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.12 stands higher than 84% of all other readings from the past year. Likewise, the equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.01 is in the 75th percentile of its annual range, suggesting near-term traders are more put-heavy than usual.
SWKS is on a similar path, down 5.3% at $73.81 -- its lowest close in nearly a year -- shrugging off a freshly reinstated "overweight" rating and $95 price target at Barclays. Intraday put volume is running at twice the typical pace, with what appears to be buy-to-open action at the weekly 1/8 76-strike put. By buying the puts at a VWAP of $1.54, the speculators' profit will increase the lower SWKS sinks south of $74.46 through Friday's close.
Unlike CRUS, today's appetite for bearish bets marks a change of pace for Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS). On the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, the security's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.89 stands higher than 69% of all others taken during the past year.