Tuesday’s Vital Data: Facebook Inc (FB), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) and Apple Inc. (AAPL)

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U.S. markets are trading sharply lower this morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off more than 200 points in early Tuesday trading. Oil was once again a drag on stocks, with black gold dropping nearly 3% as hopes for production cuts faded.

In options activity, volume was pretty anemic on Monday, as options traders were as indecisive as stock traders on the day. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio rose to 0.63, while the 10-day moving average fell to 0.65 — its lowest level since early November.

In equity option news, Facebook Inc’s (NASDAQ:FB) call volume recovered on Monday as earnings follow-through buying pushed the stock to a new all-time high. Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) easily blew past Wall Street’s earnings estimates, while negative sentiment gained momentum on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the company dipped below Alphabet as the U.S.’s most valuable company.

Tuesday’s Vital Data: Facebook Inc (FB), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) and Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Facebook Inc (FB)

FB stock tagged a fresh all-time high north of $115 on Monday, as follow-through buying and analyst activity continued to chase the company’s strong fourth-quarter earnings report. On the analyst front, Axiom Securities reaffirmed its buy rating on the stock with a $145 price target, Piper Jaffray lifted its price target from $155 to $170 and reiterated FB at overweight, and Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $145 from $125 and assigned a buy rating to FB stock.

In the options pits, volume slowed considerably across the board, but FB stock still managed to attract more than 868,000 contracts on the day.  Calls were also in demand, accounting for 61% of the day’s total — though still coming in shy of the prior two-month average of 64%-65%.

Turning to weekly February 5 series open interest, FB is now trading firmly above peak call OI of 7,669 contracts at $115 after Monday’s rally. However, there are still significant call accumulations at $116 and $117 that could hinder the equity’s progress this week.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)

It’s official. Alphabet is now the most valuable U.S. company, surpassing Apple in after hours trading on the heels of a better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report. Earnings came in at $8.67 per share, topping the consensus estimate for $8.10 per share. Revenue revenue rose 17.8% to $21.33 billion, versus expectations for $20.77 billion.

GOOGL rarely makes an appearance on the daily top ten most active options listing, and its appearance on Monday’s list is likely due to the overall low-volume session. However, more than 221,000 contracts traded on the issue, with calls snapping up 67^ of the overall take.

Google was trading up 4.6% on Tuesday and hovering just shy of $810. The stock has bested peak weekly Feb 5 series call OI of 3,870 at the $800 strike, while another 1,670 calls lie just overhead at $810. Still, with the market struggling, look for GOOGL to fight a bit with $810 or even pull back to support near $800.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

“They love you when you’re on all the covers. When you’re not then they love another.” – Marilyn Manson

With Alphabet now “on all the covers,” Apple bears are coming out of the woodwork in droves. In the past 24 hours, Apple has seen a marked increase in the number of bearish media headlines, including “Will Slowing Growth Take A Bite Out Of Apple Inc. (AAPL)?” “Is Apple Inc. (AAPL) the Next Altria (MO)?” and “Apple: If iPhone Keeps Shrinking,” just to name a few.

The stock has also failed to bounce back from its post-earnings troubles. Currently, AAPL is trapped below resistance near $97, with its 10- and 20-day moving averages riding shotgun in the region.

Options traders are still showing signs of bullish sentiment, though the notion is in decline. Volume on Monday was weak at about 640,000 contracts. Total call volume was also well below average, accounting for just 58% of the day’s take, compared to AAPL’s average of 61%-62% from the prior two months.

As for weekly Feb 5 series OI, peak put OI totals more than 20,000 contracts at the out-of-the-money $90 strike. Look for this level to hold firm on any pullbacks throughout the week.  More immediate, though more tenuous, support can be found at $95 in the form of 7,845 open put contracts.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/02/tuesdays-vital-data-facebook-inc-fb-alphabet-inc-googl-apple-inc-aapl/.

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