Wedbush is seeing strong signs for the iPhone 11
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trading up 0.2% at $221.20, after Wedbush said more than 185 million iPhone 11 units will be shipped in the company's 2020 fiscal year, driven by strong underlying demand in China. Still, the brokerage firm also said pre-ordering has been good in the U.S., while adding that the iPhone remains the "hearts and lungs" of the company.
AAPL has been trending higher in recent weeks thanks to a bounce from the 50-day moving average, last week grabbing its highest close of 2019. However, short-term options traders are put-heavy on the tech giant, based on the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.24. Not only does this show that put open interest in the front three-months' series of options outweighs call open interest, but the 82nd annual percentile ranks shows such a put-skew is rare.
Perspective options traders should note that the Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) for AAPL of 24% ranks in the 21st annual percentile, showing relatively low volatility expectations at the moment. The shares have shown a tendency to make big moves in the past year, too, since the Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) comes in at 95.
Another tech name to watch today is Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU). The stock is down 6.5% at $140.77, following news of Comcast's (CMCSA) new streaming box. This is overshadowing a giant price-target hike to $170 from $119 at Guggenheim. ROKU shares could bounce back quickly, though, since they're seemingly finding familiar support at the $140 level.
Bears have been moving in on the equity, with short interest rising 18.8% in the last two reporting periods. But short interest has been high for a while on Roku, and it's up more than 350% year-to-date.