Today’s tickers: CVC, STMP & LVS
CVC - Cablevision Systems Corp. – Investors punished shares in Cablevision Systems Corp. on Friday after the cable operator said it lost 19,000 video subscribers in the quarter on top of third-quarter net income of $0.14 a share that missed estimates of $0.32 a share by a hefty margin. Shares in CVC plunged 15.25% to an intraday low of $14.50 following the disappointing report. Near-term bearish trading in options covering Cablevision suggests some traders expect the stock to pull back to fresh 52-week lows by expiration in November. Investors exchanged more than 1,400 in-the-money puts at the Nov. $15 strike against open interest of 490 contracts. It appears majority of the puts were purchased for an average premium of $0.65 a-pop. Put buyers may profit at expiration next month in the event that CVC’s shares slip beneath the average breakeven price of $14.35. Another sign of near-term pessimism on the cable operator was the sale of some 217 calls at the Nov. $15 strike this morning for an average premium of $0.78 each. Call sellers walk away with the premium received on the transaction as long as shares in CVC fail to rally above $15.00 through expiration day. Options volume on the stock is relatively high, with more than 6,000 contracts in play as of 12:45 pm on the East Coast. Put options on the stock are more than twice as active as calls this afternoon.
STMP - Stamps.com, Inc. – Shares in the provider of online postage solutions and services soared 25.0% to a more than five-year high of $32.47 today on the heels of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings reported after the close on Thursday. Options trading patterns on Stamps.com this morning suggest there are some strategists prepping for shares to continue to climb in the near term. Meanwhile, pre-earnings report call buyers are today holding contracts that exploded in value overnight. Some traders initiated their positions on Stamps.com at the beginning of the month, before the market commenced its sharp move to the upside. The Nov. $20 strike call was one area populated by bullish players. Open interest in the call stands at 1,145, and it looks like more of those positions were initiated by buyers than sellers for an average premium of $2.50 each. These calls are now nearly five times as expensive, with the last-traded price on the option displaying $12.10 as of 12:25 pm…
