Over the last two weeks, options traders have taken interest in AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is slated to step into the earnings confessional after the close tomorrow, Aug. 2. Leading up to the event, AMD's options activity has exploded, even as the security sits 32.5% lower year-to-date. And though Advanced Micro Devices stock was last seen 2.5% higher to trade at $96.86 this afternoon, today's positive price action fell short at the 120-day moving average as the security attempts to approach a familiar ceiling at the $100 level.
As for earnings, analysts anticipate second-quarter profits of $1.03 per share and revenue of $6.53 billion. The options pits are pricing in a post-earnings swing of 11.1%, which is much larger than the 5.8% post-earnings move the stock averaged over the past two years. AMD was positive following four of these last eight sessions, including moves of 9.1% and 5.1% in May and February, respectively.
Amid the downtrend it's faced over the course of the year, Advanced Micro Devices stock is on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of names that have attracted the highest weekly options volume within the past two weeks. According to this data, 3,140,897 calls and 1,778,606 puts were exchanged in this two-week time period. The 7/29 90-strike call stood out as the most popular contract by far, followed by the weekly 7/22 90-strike call.
More broadly, options traders have favored puts. This is per the security's 50-day put/call volume ratio over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) that ranks in the 87th percentile of its annual range. In other words, these traders have had a healthier-than usual appetite for long puts in the last 10 weeks.
These options traders are in luck, too, as now seems like an ideal time to weigh in on AMD's next move higher. Advanced Micro Devices stock has usually outperformed volatility expectations, per its Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) ranking of 88 out of 100.
It's worth noting that Susquehanna today cut its price objective on the equity to $115 from $120. However, analysts remain optimistic overall. Specifically, the 12-month consensus price target of $128.11 is a 32.4% premium to the shares' current perch, and 18 of 23 covering brokerages still recommend a "buy" or better rating.