Deere & Company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) reported first-quarter earnings of $6.55 per share earlier -- well above estimates of $5.57 per share -- as well as a revenue beat of $11.40 billion. The heavy machinery name attributed the results to strong demand for farming equipment, and raised its 2023 net income forecast. At last check, DE is up 5.7% to trade at $425.75.
Options traders are already blasting the stock, with 7,310 calls and 3,891 puts across the tape so far, volume that's 12 times the intraday average. Most popular is the February 430 call, with positions still opening there, meaning traders expect more upside for the equity before this contract expires at the close.
This penchant for bullish bets is unusual, per Deere stock's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.29 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks higher than 97% of readings from the past year.
Today, DE is running out of steam at the $430 level. The $400 level has provided a floor for the stock for the past couple of weeks, an area that coincides with its 120-day moving average. Over the last nine months, DE has added 35.5%.