Is Pandora Media, Inc. (P) Headed to $25?

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) is down 0.8% at $16.62, bringing its year-over-year deficit to 54.5%. Nevertheless, calls are crossing the tape at a rapid-fire rate -- with 11,000 contracts traded, versus an expected intraday volume of 4,431.

Looking more closely, the January 2016 25-strike call is P's most active option, with more than 6,700 contracts exchanged. Data suggests a number of these positions are being freshly purchased, as long-term bulls wager on the stock to topple the quarter-century mark by next January, when the LEAPS expire.

As alluded to earlier, P has lost more than half of its value on a year-over-year basis, and hasn't traded north of $25 since early October. As such, delta on the option is just 0.30, or 30%.

Elsewhere, short interest on Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) rose 11.6% during the latest reporting period, and now accounts for 15% of the equity's float -- which would take a week to cover, at its typical daily trading volume. As such, it's possible some of today's call buying has been at the hands of short sellers seeking upside protection.