FAANG Stock Flashes Buy Signal During Sell-Off

Shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) fell 2.8% on Wednesday, after Snap (NYSE:SNAP) -- which owns Instagram rival Snapchat -- reported impressive earnings. The FAANG stock has sold off alongside the broader stock market in recent weeks, but is now trading near a trendline that historically has had bullish implications. If past is precedent, FB shares could be headed back near record-high territory in the short term.

Specifically, FB stock is currently trading near its 80-day moving average -- a trendline that's served as steady support over the past 12 months, and has helped usher the equity to a 33.1% year-over-year lead and a Feb. 1 all-time peak of $195.32.

According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, there have been 12 other times in the past three years when FB has closed less than one standard deviation from its 80-day moving average after a significant stretch above it. These previous pullbacks have yielded a one-month average return of 4.42% for Facebook stock, and a 92% win rate.

Today, FB shares are getting hit by another sharp sell-off on Wall Street. At last check, the stock was down 2.2% to trade at $176.85 -- below its 80-day moving average, but could find a foothold at its 120-day trendline, which helped contain an early December dip.

Those looking to buy the dip on the FAANG stock may want to consider call options, considering they are pricing in unusually low volatility expectations at the moment, relative to their put counterparts. This is based on FB's 30-day implied volatility skew of 14.3%, in the 96th annual percentile.