AbbVie and Gilead Sciences both reported earnings last night
Pharmaceutical stocks are making headlines today, after two U.S.-based sector heavyweights stepped into the earnings confessional this morning and last night. Options traders are reacting accordingly.
AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) is up 1.1% to trade at $182.53, after the company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $2.46 per share on $13.3 billion in revenue, both of which exceeded analyst expectations. AbbVie also raised its full-year outlook, expecting its flagship psoriasis drug Skyrizi to take in $16.5 billion in sales for the year.
ABBV is gaining some distance from its year-to-date breakeven level today, and is now 10% higher in the last 12 months. Despite a 12% pullback this quarter, the $170 level appears to be stepping up as support.
Bullish bets seem to be flying off the shelves today. At last check, ABBV has seen over 9,000 calls exchange hands, volume that's quadruple the average intraday amount and triple the number of puts exchanged. Expiring today, the weekly 4/25 190-strike call is the most popular, while new positions are being bought to open at the weekly 5/2 200-strike call.
Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) is 3.9% lower to trade at $102.45, after the company's first-quarter revenue of $6.7 billion fell short of the forecasted $6.8 billion. In response, RBC and Morgan Stanley hiked their price targets to $92 and $135, respectively, while Oppenheimer trimmed its target to $125 from $132.
While GILD is 11% higher on the year, the shares have spent the last month consolidating below their March 10 all-time high of $119.96. Support is in place at the shares' ascending 126-day moving average, however, which equates to half a trading year.
Despite the move lower, Gilead calls are running at five times the average intraday amount. The weekly 5/2 109-strike call is seeing predominant sell-to-open activity, followed closely behind by the weekly 4/25 108-strike call expiring at the close today.