Options traders are eyeing SQ and PYPL
Fintech stocks Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) are seeing high volume in the options pits. Both have attracted investors' attention lately, and today PayPal named Aaron J. Webster as Executive Vice President and Chief Enterprise Services Officer. SQ was last seen up 4.9%, while PYPL rises 3.9%.
Today's pop has SQ at fresh 52-week highs, up 10.7% since the start of the year. PayPal stock earlier recovered from its early February, post-earnings bear gap, but has since pared gains slightly. Today's pop still has PYPL moving into positive territory for 2024, however.
So far today, SQ has seen 123,000 calls and 69,000 puts cross the tape. And though calls are outweighing puts on an absolute basis, puts are running at double the volume typically seen at this point. The April 90 call is the most active contract, followed by the March 85 call.
Conversely, options traders are buying up PayPal calls at double the intraday average volume, with 164,000 exchanged in comparison to 54,000 puts. The April 65 call is the most popular, followed by the March 62.50 call, with new positions being opened at both.