IB Options Brief: J.C. Penney Co., Inc. (JCP) & OraSure Technologies, Inc. (OSUR)

Posted May 16th, 2012 by Caitlin Duffy in Unusual Activity

J.C. Penney Co. options active after earnings disappoint

JCP ñ J.C. Penney Co., Inc.

The department store operatorís shares had their worst percentage drop in more than two decades on Wednesday after the Company reported a loss for the first quarter, sales that fell more than expected and discontinued its quarterly dividend. The stock trades 17.3% lower this afternoon at $27.54. May expiry options changing hands on J.C. Penney this morning appear to be looking for a modest rebound off the lows by the end of the week. Call buyers snapped up more than 500 of the May $28 strike calls for an average premium of $1.00 each and purchased another 1,700 calls at the higher May $29 strike at an average premium of $0.49 apiece. The May $30 and $31 strike calls attracted buyers as well, with more than 3,000 and 1,600 contracts purchased at each, at premiums of $0.31 and $0.13 each, respectively. Meanwhile, strategists betting shares in JCP are at their lowest for the week sold May $27 and $28 strike put options, pocketing average premiums of $2.96 and $0.15 per contract on the trades. Put sellers walk away with the full amount of premium in hand as long as shares in J.C. Penney settle above $28.00 at expiration. Overall activity in JCP options is up sharply following earnings, with more than 138,000 lots in play versus the stockís 90-day average options volume of 36,354 contracts.

OSUR ñ OraSure Technologies, Inc.

Shares in the medical equipment maker hoping to bring the first at-home HIV test to market jumped as much as 35.0% to a more than 5-year high of $12.28 today after a unanimous vote yesterday by an advisory panel was viewed favorably by investors. The FDA is expected to make a decision on the test in the next few months. Calls and puts are changing hands in roughly equal numbers this afternoon and overall volume is currently up above 2,200 contracts as of 1:05 p.m. in New York. Open interest in OraSure options is greatest in the May $10 strike call, with 1,551 open positions. Most of the calls were purchased for an average premium of $1.28 each exactly four weeks ago. While the value of the now in-the-money calls is much improved today, buyers have yet to break even on the positions given the current bid/ask price on the contract at $0.70/$0.95. Traders long the calls could choose to take delivery of the stock at expiration, however, to share in any up- or downside moves in the stock through the FDAís decision.

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