Plus, the company s getting a $100 million equity investment
Joby Aviation Inc (NYSE:JOBY) is up 25.5% at $11.25 at last check, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved flight testing of its air taxi without passengers. Plus, SK Telecom (SKM) revealed it is making an equity investment of $100 million in the aviation name as part of an expanded partnership.
The equity is extending yesterday's bull gap to trade at its highest level since September 2021. The 20-day moving average contained a pullback before this massive rally, with the stock seeing its best day ever over the previous session. Year-to-date, JOBY is up 237%.
A short squeeze could push Joby Aviation stock even higher. Short interest is up 20.8% in the last two reporting periods, and the 45.05 million shares sold short account for 12.1% of the stock's available float. It would take shorts nearly two weeks to cover their bearish bets, at the stock's average pace of daily trading.
Options traders are in a frenzy, with 29,000 calls and 11,000 puts exchanged so far, which is 32 times the intraday average volume. The most popular contract is the July 10 call, with new positions being opened at the January 2024 20-strike call.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), JOBY's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.33 stands higher than 91% of readings from the past 12 months. This means calls have been more popular than usual over the last 10 weeks.