An earthquake in Taiwan led the company to scrape some of its wafers
Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) stock was last seen down 4.8% at $132.30, despite the semiconductor giant surpassing first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Today's losses follow an earthquake in Taiwan earlier this month that led the company scrape some of its wafers, though it caused no structural damage.
The security earlier hit its lowest level since early March, and could today settle below the 60-day moving average for the first time since November. The shares are also distancing themselves from a March 8, all-time high of $158.80, after their most recent rally ran into pressure at the $150 level. So far this year, TSM added 26.4%.
Options volume is already running at six times the intraday average, with 129,000 calls and 58,000 puts. The most popular contract is the April 135 call, where new positions are being opened.
Bullish bets have been prevalent over the past 10 weeks. This is per the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.32 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which stands higher than 93% of readings from the past year.