Today’s tickers: WBMD, ZQK & IP
WBMD - WebMD Health Corp. – Shares in health information services provider, WebMD Health Corp., are on a tear today, up as much as 31% at a new 52-week high of $35.28 during morning trading after the company raised its full year profit and revenue forecast. The stock has increased more than 160% since November of 2012 when the shares touched down at an all-time low of $13.13. Options traders who picked up far out of the money call options on WBMD during recent weeks are enjoying big gains in the value of their positions today amid double-digit percentage gains in the price of the underlying. Of note, was the purchase of around 350 of the Jul $35 strike calls at a premium of $0.20 apiece back on June 6th when shares in the name were hovering around $29.50. The $35 strike calls are currently changing hands at four times that amount, with the last-traded price at $0.80 per contract as of 11:45 a.m. in New York. Traders initiating bullish positions on the stock last week appear to have purchased around 220 calls at the Aug $35 strike for a premium of $0.40 per contract on Monday morning. The rally in shares today has lifted premium on the Aug $35 call options to $2.25 as of the time of this writing. Finally, traders positioning for the price of the underlying to continue higher next week appear to have purchased around 850 of the Jul $35 strike calls this morning for an average premium of $0.95 apiece. These contracts make money at expiration next week as long as shares in WebMD rally another 5.0% over the current price of $34.25 to exceed the average breakeven point at $35.95. WebMD Health Corp. is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on July 31st.
ZQK - Quiksilver, Inc. – Apparel and accessory company, Quiksilver, popped…
