Pinterest stock is brushing off disappointing second-quarter results
Pinterest Inc (NYSE:PINS) stock is soaring today, up 16.9% at $23.37, despite the company's disappointing second-quarter earnings report. News that activist investor Elliot Management is the social media name's largest shareholder has given the stock a hefty boost. Plus, Susquehanna upgraded PINS to "positive" from "neutral," with a price-target hike to $35 from $22. No fewer than six other analysts raised their price targets as well, while two chimed in with price-target cuts.
Today's pop has PINS breaking above the 100-day moving average for the first time since October 2021 -- a trendline that kept a cap on the stock's most recent rally -- as well as a recent ceiling at the $22 level. Year-to-date, the equity is down 37%.
Options traders have been much more bearish than usual. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), both PINS' 10-day and 50-day put/call volume ratios rank higher than 99% of readings from the past year, showing puts being picked up at a much faster-than-usual clip.
Puts are outweighing calls today, too, as overall options volume runs at seven times the intraday average. So far, 46,000 calls and 58,000 puts have crossed the tape. The weekly 8/5 20-strike put is the most active, with new positions being bought to open there.
It's also worth noting that short interest represents 8% of the stock's available float. It would take nearly three days to buy back these bearish bets, at PINS' average pace of trading.