Friday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)

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U.S. stock futures are headed higher this morning, as Wall Street looks to put a positive finish on an otherwise bumpy week of trading. Yesterday’s Federal Reserve fears appear forgotten, with the latest policy meeting minutes revealing little to drive rate-hike worries.

Friday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)At last check, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 0.28%, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.21% and Nasdaq-100 futures had rallied 0.32%.

Options volume declined notably on Thursday, with both calls and puts taking a hit. Still, puts remain in charge overall, with 14.3 million calls and 16.4 million puts crossing the tape yesterday. Over on the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio rose to 0.80 while the 10-day moving average remained unmoved at 0.81.

In equity option news, call volume remained below average for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) after news hit that hedge funds abandoned the AAPL stock in droves in the first quarter. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stock surged on strong first-quarter earnings, but options traders gave the news a lukewarm reception. Finally, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) puts gained popularity on news of a $2 billion stock offering.

Friday’s Vital Options Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

If you want to know how well a company is performing or expected to perform … follow the money.

Unfortunately for AAPL stock, the situation continues to deteriorate. Specifically, the top 50 funds sold roughly $7.1 billion in AAPL stock in the first quarter, with investor Carl Icahn leading the way by dumping his $4.8 billion position, making AAPL the most heavily sold stock on the quarter.

Sentiment has deteriorated for some time on AAPL, as I’ve noted in this space ad nauseum. Call volume, for one, has remained below AAPL’s historic average of 64% of daily volume for some time. The trend held true on Thursday, with calls only accounting for 56% of the roughly 977,000 contracts traded on the stock.

Looking ahead to monthly June options, however, reveals that AAPL bulls have yet to give up hope. Peak call OI for the series totals a hefty 88,000 contracts at the deep out-of-the-money $115 strike, with another 72,000-plus contracts at the $100 strike. By comparison, peak put OI for the monthly June series totals just 44,000 contracts at the $90 strike.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT)

WMT stock came roaring back on Thursday, erasing Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)-fueled losses and then some. The shares hit the top end of their pre-Target expected post-earnings move — near $68.50 — and are now looking to challenge former resistance at $70.

Driving WMT stock was an impressive first-quarter earnings report, where Walmart said it earned 98 cents per share, compared to expectations for 88 cents. Looking ahead, Walmart lifted second-quarter guidance to a same-store sales increase of 1% on earnings of $1.08. Wall Street is expecting earnings of 98 cents per share.

Despite the surge and positive outlook, options traders remained reserved. Overall volume swelled to 279,000 contracts, with calls only accounting for about 51% of the day’s take. Making any headway past $70 could be a problem for WMT stock, as the strike is home to a combined 55,000 call contracts in the May/June series of options.

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA)

Stock-dilution was the theme for TSLA on Thursday. As a means to ramp up production and meet demand for its well-received Model 3, Tesla announced it was selling $2 billion in new stock.

While hitting lofty production targets for the Model 3 would certainly be a boon for Tesla, concerns about stock dilution are weighing heavily for investors.

That concern also manifested in the options pits on Thursday, as puts snapped up 55% of the more than 285,000 contracts traded on TSLA yesterday. In fact, the monthly June series is lousy with out-of-the-money put OI, as nearly every strike between $215 and $160 sports more than 3,000 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/2016/05/fridays-vital-data-apple-inc-aapl-wal-mart-stores-inc-wmt-tesla-motors-inc-tsla/.

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