Coupa Software issued a disappointing full-year and current-quarter forecast
The shares of Coupa Software Inc (NASDAQ:COUP) are plummeting today, down 18.2% to trade at $73.45 at last glance. The tech company issued a weak full-year and current-quarter forecast, after better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. In response, Oppenheimer downgraded COUP to "perform" from "outperform," while Piper Sandler lowered its rating to "neutral" from "overweight," as both issued price-target cuts. No fewer than nine other analysts slashed their price targets as well.
Earlier dropping to a fresh three-year low of $64.79, COUP is down 52.4% year-to-date. The 30-day moving average has been guiding the stock lower since November, with the equity now on track for its fifth-straight week of losses.
Despite Coupa stock's underperformance on the charts, calls have been much more popular than usual in the options pits. The stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.73 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) stands higher than 94% of readings from the past year.
Today, however, the number of puts traded is higher than the number of calls, with overall volume pacing for the top percentile of its annual range. So far, 22,000 puts and 16,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is 22 times what's typically seen at this point. The March 65 put is the most popular by far, followed by the 70 put in the same series, with new positions being bought to open at both.
It's also worth mentioning that short interest makes up 9.9% of COUP's available float, or over four days' worth of pent-up buying power. The security could be due for a short-term bounce, too, as its 14-day relative strength index (RSI) of 33.4 sits on the cusp of "oversold" territory.