High property prices helped the homebuilding stock make up for supply shortages
Lennar Corp (NYSE:LEN) yesterday shared better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of $2.06 per share, as well as a revenue beat of $6.49 billion. The company attributed the results to high property prices, which made up for supply shortages amid surging material costs and labor pressures.
The shares were last seen up 2.9% to trade at $103.83, extending their rally off a long-term floor at the $94 region, after pulling back from a Feb. 2, one-year high of $109.27. LEN has also reconquered the 20-day moving average after a brief dip below it, and is pacing for a third-straight daily win while boasting a 49.3% nine-month lead.
Overall options volume is today running at seven times the intraday average, with 1,883 calls and 3,671 puts exchanged so far. The most popular contract is now the April 90 put.
Short-term options traders have been more pessimistic than usual. This is per Lennar stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 2.51 that sits higher than 84% of readings from the last 12 months. In other words, these traders have rarely been more put-biased.