Angie's List Inc (ANGI) is down 7% following its first-quarter earnings report
Earnings season is
kicking into high gear, and
Angie's List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI) is down 7.4% out of the gate at $7.18, after the consumer service review website
swung to a first-quarter loss on revenue of $83.9 million, both numbers below the consensus estimates. Tuesday's options traders were bracing for a post-earnings drop from ANGI, with put volume running at 28 times the normal daily rate -- and one batch of speculators set to win big on today's plunge.
Specifically, ANGI's May 7.50 put saw the most action on Tuesday -- albeit, amid relatively low absolute volume -- and it looks as if a portion of the
puts were bought to open for a volume-weighted average price of $0.56 apiece. This morning, the ask price for the now in-the-money puts has jumped to $0.90, meaning these traders are already staring at paper profits.
More broadly speaking, Tuesday's put-skewed session just echoes the recent trend seen in ANGI's options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), options traders have bought to open 4.36
puts for every
call over the past 10 sessions.
This skepticism is seen outside of the options arena, as well. Although short interest edged 2.4% lower in the most recent reporting period, it still accounts for a healthy 7.1% of the stock's available float. Even more telling, it would take roughly 11 sessions to cover these shorted shares, at ANGI's average daily pace of trading.
Ahead of today's trading, the stock had already surrendered nearly one-third of its value since topping out at an annual high of $11.25 in late November -- sending
buyout buzz swirling. What's more, this morning's setback has the shares of Angie's List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI) lingering near levels not seen since last November.
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