U.S. stocks are trading higher this morning, thanks to positive blue-chip earnings. Among the stocks making moves today are retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY), and media content company Time Inc (NYSE:TIME). Here's a closer look at what's moving shares of WMT, BBY, and TIME.
Shares of Wal-Mart are soaring after the Dow component announced a fiscal third-quarter earnings beat, along with same-store sales that topped expectations on strong hurricane-related demand. WMT is up 6.8% at $95.97 to lead the Dow, and earlier set a fresh record high of $96.07. Wal-Mart stock has now gained nearly 39% on the year.
Ahead of earnings, WMT options traders were upbeat. Data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows WMT with a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.75, which ranks in the 76th percentile of its annual range. This suggests that calls have been bought to open over puts at a faster-than-usual rate during the past two weeks.
Best Buy stock is falling after the retailer's holiday-quarter forecast fell short of analysts' expectations. BBY is down 6.1% at $53.83 at last check, backing away from another unsuccessful attempt to reclaim a foothold above former support at its 120-day moving average. The retail stock is now testing the waters above its 200-day trendline.
Ahead of Best Buy's earnings, options traders were pessimistic. BBY's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.23 ranks in the 74th percentile of its annual range. In other words, bearish bets were bought to open over bullish at a faster-than-usual clip during the past two weeks.
Shares of TIME have skyrocketed in response to reports that the company is once again in talks with Meredith to sell itself in a deal backed by Koch Brothers. TIME stock is up 25.3% at $15.85, with the shares gapping well above recent resistance at their falling 80-day moving average -- and on pace to close above the $15 mark for the first time since early May.
Total open interest on the media stock is fairly light -- but among the speculators who have established positions on TIME, calls are the options of choice. TIME's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.32 ranks in just the 5th percentile of its annual range. This indicates that short-term calls have rarely been more popular, relative to puts, in the past year.