General Mills reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations
The shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is up 0.4% at $58.24 this morning, after an impressive fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue report that topped Wall Street's estimates. General Mills cited elevated demand for packaged food due to the pandemic, and a major boom in baking and cooking as main drivers for its sales jump. The company also lifted its quarterly dividend by 4% to 51 cents per share.
On the charts, General Mills stock has taken a nosedive after months of consolidating just below its nearly four-year highs near the $66 mark. Despite the drop, GIS still boasts a respectable 8.8% year-to-date lead. Plus, the 320-day moving average sits just below, and could emerge as an area of support, going forward.
While calls are still outpacing puts, option bears have upped the ante recently. This is per the 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.43 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), sits higher than 90% of readings in its annual range, meaning puts have been picked up at a quicker-than-usual clip over the past 10 weeks.
Today's options activity leans bullish, however. So far, over 12,000 calls have exchanged hands -- 11 times the intraday average -- compared to 3,596 puts. Most popular is the October 62.50 call, followed closely by the 60 call from the same monthly series.