Bearish Betting Heats Up as Crocs, Inc (CROX) Skims Lows

Crocs, Inc. (CROX) touched a fresh four-year low earlier

Digital Content Group

Jan 9, 2015 at 1:35 PM

CROX

It's been a disastrous day for Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX), which earlier bottomed at a four-year low of $10.97, and was last seen 6.4% south of breakeven at $11.06. Based on the stock's options pits -- where puts are crossing at 65 times the normal intraday rate -- traders are looking to capitalize on additional downside.

Most active is CROX's at-the-money June 11 put, where close to 3,800 contracts are on the tape. It appears the majority of these positions are being bought to open, as speculators wager on the underlying to settle below $11 at June options expiration. Ahead of today's trading, this strike hadn't been breached since September 2010.

Another group betting bearishly on CROX is short sellers. During the two most recent reporting periods, short interest levels spiked nearly 15%. Currently, 9.3% of the stock's float is sold short, which would take two weeks to cover, at typical daily trading levels.

This negative sentiment shouldn't come as much of a surprise, based on the technical picture painted above. But to put things further in perspective, Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX) has tumbled 29% year-over-year.

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