Interim CEO Sue Gov will take on the position permanently
The shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) are sinking this morning, down 6.6% at $4.94, as they look to erase a sizeable portion of yesterday's 24.2% pop. Investors are reacting to news that the embattled home good retailer has appointed interim CEO Sue Gov to a permanent position. Bed Bath & Beyond's former CEO Mark Tritton was pushed out by the company's board this June as the company tries to turn around its sinking sales and waning customer interest.
Yesterday's pop looks to be the work of speculative traders, who helped push BBBY to a close above the 10-day moving average for the first time in over two weeks. However, all other short- and long-term trendlines still stand as resistance points on the charts, keeping BBBY dangerously close two hitting even more two-year lows just above the $4 level.
Options traders remain bullish. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the security sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.43 that sits higher than 84% of readings from the past year. In other words, long calls have been getting picked up at an elevated pace during the past 10 weeks.
The notoriously volatile stock is still heavily shorted, with short interest up 2.1% in the last reporting period and accounting for 38.9% of BBBY's available float. Given the amount of short interest tied up into BBBY, its possible some of those call buyers could be shorts seeking an options hedge.