The fashion retail stock swung to strong third-quarter profits from a year-ago loss
The shares of Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL) are up 21.5% at $7.25 this afternoon, and on pace for their best session in five months after the retailer reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that showed a clear swing to a quarterly profit from a year-ago loss. The company attributed the strong results to e-commerce sales jumping 66%, third-party online sales rising 44%, a 26% cut in operating expenses, and growth in Mainland China.
On the charts, it has been a year of highs and lows for Fossil stock. Less than a month after the equity dropped to a May 20 all-time-low of $2.69, the shares rallied back up to the $8 level, only to cool off again a few weeks later. The security went on to recover from that pullback to surge even higher, however, and shares have been north of the 80-day moving average since August. In the last six months, FOSL has gained an impressive 153.8%.
An unwinding of short interest could also push the equity higher. Short interest rose 16.9% in the last two reporting periods, and now makes up 8.7 million shares sold short, which is a hefty 19.5% of FOSL's available float. Plus, it would take over a week to buy back these bearish bets, at the stock's average pace of trading.
Drilling down to today's trading, 9,047 calls and 4,992 puts have crossed the tape, which is 38 times the average intraday amount. The 11/13 7.50-strike call is the most popular, followed by the 8-strike call in the same weekly series, with new positions being opened at both.
Now certainly looks like the perfect time to take advantage of FOSL's next move with options. The security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 155% sits in the relatively low 18th percentile of its annual range. In other words, the stock sports attractively priced premiums at the moment.