SAVA is seeing an uptick in mentions on Twitter today
The shares of Cassava Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:SAVA) are surging before the bell, last seen up 33.6% at $49.13, as the heavily shorted stock gains popularity on social media this morning. SAVA has been mentioned more than any other ticker on Twitter in the past hour, according to tracking sites.
The security is no stranger to outsized moves -- just yesterday, it lost long-term support at the $40 level. SAVA looks ready to take back this area today, as well as its 320-day moving average, which turned into resistance in December. Though SAVA is a ways away from its July 29, record high of $146.16, it's sporting a 439.1% lead for the year.
As we previously mentioned, SAVA is heavily shorted. Short interest is up 22.2% in the last reporting period, and the 10.25 million shares sold short account for 27.4% of the security's available float. It would take a little under two days to cover these bearish bets, at the stock's average daily pace of trading.
Options traders have been more bearish than usual, though call volume still outnumbers put volume. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), SAVA sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio which stands higher than 83% of readings from the past year. This means long puts are being picked up at a much quicker-than-usual clip.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 6630 calls and 5062 puts have crossed the tape, which is double the intraday average. Most popular is the January 2023 2.50-strike put, followed by the weekly 12/23 60-strike call, with new positions being opened at the latter.