AMD has been one of the best stocks to own after a rate hike
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) has been barreling up the charts in recent months, with the shares up almost 82% from their early April lows near $9. Plus, AMD stock topped out at an 11-year peak of $16.48 earlier, and was last seen up 3.1% to trade at $16.34. Today's options traders think there's more fuel left in the chipmaker's tank, betting on its next leg higher in the near term.
At last check, roughly 181,000 calls and 94,000 puts have traded on AMD stock -- two times what's typically seen, and total options volume pacing in the 95th annual percentile. Buy-to-open activity has been detected at the June and weekly 6/29 16.50-strike calls, meaning speculators are expecting Advanced Micro Devices to continue its recent momentum over the next two weeks.
This heavy call trading runs counter to the withstanding trend seen in AMD's options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.51 ranks in the 77th annual percentile, meaning puts have been bought to open relative to calls at an accelerated clip in recent weeks.
Likewise, the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.09 ranks higher than 82% of all comparable readings taken in the past year. In other words, speculators are more put-skewed than usual among options expiring in three months or less.
Drilling down, peak near-term put open interest on AMD is found at the June 10, July 9, and July 11 puts, where 241,469 contracts collectively reside. Data from the major options exchanges confirms notable buy-to-open activity at each strike, underscoring the more broader bearish bias among speculative players.
The good news for those July put buyers is that AMD stock has historically been one of the worst stocks to own on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) next month -- averaging a loss of 4.64% over the last 10 years, according to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. However, Advanced Micro Devices is also one of the best stocks to own following a Fed rate hike, averaging a one-week return of 5.92% since 2015, with 83% of those returns positive.