Monday’s Vital Data: Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA)

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With traders well-rested from the long holiday weekend, Wall Street appears poised to bounce back this morning after snapping a five-week winning streak on Thursday. Economic data will be heavy this week, with inflation and jobs data trailing a significant speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Tuesday.

Heading into the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.24%, while S&P 500 futures have added 0.28% and Nasdaq Composite futures are up 0.31%.

Options volume was anemic on Thursday, with traders heading for the exits early ahead of the Easter holiday. Puts were naturally the investment vehicle of choice ahead of the long weekend, with the CBOE single-session equity put/call volume ratio arriving at 0.83. The 10-day moving average rose to a second consecutive one-month high, coming in at 0.73.

In equity options news, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is seeing a rise in put volume ahead of the Model 3’s debut. Meanwhile, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced a partnership with Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last week to begin selling the latter’s Xfinity service on the Amazon marketplace. Finally, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) admitted late last week that it has been throttling streaming on AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) mobile networks.

Monday’s Vital Data: Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA)

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

In a move that surprised quite a few customers and analysts on Wall Street, Amazon.com partnered with Comcast last week to sell the latters’ Xfinity Internet serivce. The unlikely tie-up had apparently been in the works for a while, but the move was kept under wraps until now.

Disgruntled Comcast customers were quick to rate the Xfinity service, with Amazon customer Sam Beckett politely summing up the flood of one-star ratings:

“Surprising partnership between the country’s best customer service and the country’s worst customer service.”

AMZN stock options traders appeared somewhat taken aback by the news, with puts accounting for 52% of Thursday’s total volume of 302,000 contracts. A closer look, however, reveals a heavy call bias in the weekly April 1 series. The nearest significant option accumulation lies at $590, where more than 1,500 calls are currently open. Additionally, another 3,290 calls are open at the $600 strike in the weekly April series, with options traders looking for AMZN to retake the $600 mark over the short-term.

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)

Long a proponent of net neutrality, Netflix dropped a bomb on its customers last week. For the past five years, Netflix has been throttling data streams on AT&T’s and Verizon’s wireless networks. According to Netflix, it has been doing so for its customers’ own good due to data caps on those networks.

Options traders appeared to view the news favorably, with calls raking in 60% of Thursday’s total volume of 293,000 contracts. Taking a closer look at April 1 series open interest, the $100 strike is the key to NFLX action this week. There are currently more than 3,000 calls and 1,200 puts open at the century strike, with additionally heavy call OI at the $104 and $105 strikes. Meanwhile, some 2,707 puts currently reside at the $98 strike.

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA)

Look for volatility to grow on Tesla Motors stock this week, as the company prepares to take the wraps off its much anticipated Model 3 sedan. A break from Tesla’s typical high-end Model X and Model S vehicles, the Model 3 targets a much broader market.

According to early details, the car will have a 200 miles of range on a single charge and cost about $35,000 for a base model before tax credits and incentives. Expect analysts to dive into Tesla’s production and deliveries capabilities immediately after the hype surrounding the Model 3’s unveiling dies down.

As if in anticipation of a sell-the-news reaction, TSLA stock options traders are already loading up on puts. On Thursday, Tesla saw 352,000 contracts change hands, with puts accounting for 53% of the take. As for open interest levels for the weekly April 1 series, put OI is focused at the $220 strike, totaling 1,245 contracts, while call OI numbers 1,5428 at the $230 strike, with another 2,880 contracts at the $235 strike.

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/2016/03/mondays-vital-data-amazon-com-inc-amzn-netflix-inc-nflx-and-tesla-motors-inc-tsla/.

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