The company saw a 19% drop in third-quarter profits
General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is slipping today, down 2.1% to trade at $71.93 at last check, despite the company's better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue. Weighing on the equity instead is a 19% dip in quarterly profits amid inflationary and supply pressures, as well as a slashed full-year revenue outlook as its renewable energy business faces higher warranty and related reserves.
Options traders are chiming in on the results, with 13,000 puts and 8,046 calls across the tape so far, which is triple the volume that's typically seen at this point. Most popular is the 10/28 71-strike put, followed by the 70-strike put in that weekly series, with positions being opened at both.
That penchant for puts has been the norm lately. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), GE's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.82 sits higher than 94% of readings from the last year -- already higher than the last time we checked in with the security. This means puts have been getting picked up at a much faster-than-usual clip.
On the charts, General Electric stock is running into a familiar ceiling at the $76 level, which rejected the shares in mid-September. The equity is also testing the 60-day moving average after conquering that level of resistance on Friday. Year-to-date, GE carries a 24% deficit.