Monday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc (FB) and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)

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U.S. stock futures appear to be taking a breather this morning, after the major market indexes banked their second consecutive session of record highs on Friday. It will be a busy week for traders, as former FBI Director James Comey will testify this week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, the European Central Bank will hold a monetary policy meeting and U.K. election on Thursday could bring more questions to the Brexit front.

Monday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc (FB) and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)Against this backdrop, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average have dipped 0.05%, while S&P 500 futures are down 0.07% and Nasdaq-100 futures have fallen 0.1%.

On the options front, volume remained well above average on Friday, with about 17.7 million calls and 13.9 million puts changing hands. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio dipped to a one-week low of 0.60, dragging the 10-day moving average lower to 0.62.

Topping Friday’s options activity, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw heavy call options volume as traders prepared for this week’s Worldwide Developers conference, but that strength is being called into question this morning with a rare downgrade. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is reportedly launching a new “Talk” messaging service to compete with Snap Inc’s (NASDAQ:SNAP) dominance in the teen demographic. Finally, Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) posted strong first-quarter results as restructuring is finally bearing fruit.

Monday’s Vital Options Data: Apple Inc (AAPL), Facebook Inc (FB) and Lululemon Athletica inc. (LULU)

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

AAPL stock broke out to a new all-time high on Friday, prompting options traders to rush once again for bullish call options. However, the stock is slipping this morning after analysts at Pacific Crest downgraded AAPL to “sector weight” from “outperform.” According to Pacific Crest, the iPhone 8 could be delayed and, following the device’s initial release, the iPhone could once again see declining sales.

On Friday, AAPL options traders were living large, however. Volume topped 1.1 million contracts, with calls snapping up 69% of the day’s take — well above average for Apple stock. Looking at the weekly 9 June series, traders are looking for a pop from this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), as the put/call open interest for the series arrives at 0.51, with calls practically doubling puts among options set to expire this week. Peak call OI currently totals some 26,000 contracts at the overhead $157.50 strike, with another 15,000 at the 9 June $155 strike.

Facebook Inc (FB)

While Facebook is the world’s largest social media destination, the company is on the verge of losing that designation as younger generations hit the mainstream. In fact, Snap’s Snapchat app is currently the No. 1 social media app for teens by a wide margin. It should come as no surprise, then, that Facebook is working on a way to win back the teen market, and new code found in the main Facebook app indicates that a new app named “Talk” could be the company’s latest salvo with Snap.

FB stock rose nearly 1.4% following the inadvertent reveal, and options traders were standing by to provide additional speculation. Option volume on FB stock rose to an above average 608,000 contracts, with calls snapping up roughly 68% of the day’s take. That said, front-month calls are not as prevalent for FB stock, as the June put/call OI ratio currently rests at 0.74, which is up from 0.71 two weeks ago and considerably higher than the early May reading of 0.63.

In other words, recent call activity might be a sign of profit taking by FB options traders, and not the work of speculators betting on the shares moving higher — a neutral to bearish development for Facebook.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU)

Lululemon’s restructuring efforts appear to be finally paying off. Late Thursday, the company posted better-than-expected earnings of 32 cents per share, topping the Street’s view for 28 cents per share. Revenue came in at $520.31 million, ahead of the consensus estimate for $513.69 million. As part of the restructuring, Lululemon is closing 40 of its 55 Ivivva stores that sell activewear for girls, with the brand becoming a primarily online-only business.

Honestly, with two girls of my own (who will not buy anything without trying it on first) I’m wondering how well this shift is going to work. LULU options traders, however, have no such reservations. Volume surged to 287,000 contracts on Friday, with calls accounting for an above average 65% of the day’s take.

Looking ahead to June option expiration, we find that there is still room on the bullish bandwagon, as the put/call OI ratio arrives at 0.75 — a reading above 65% of all those taken in the past year.

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


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/06/monday-vital-data-apple-inc-aapl-facebook-inc-fb-lululemon-athletica-inc-lulu/.

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