U.S. stocks are trading mixed this morning, with traders digesting the latest news on the Republican tax reform bill. Among the stocks making moves today are sports retailers Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) and Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB), and electric car company Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Here's a closer look at what's moving shares of FL, HIBB, and TSLA.
Shares of Foot Locker are soaring after the athletic apparel stock reported a third-quarter earnings and revenue beat. FL is trading up 26.2% at $40.20, gapping above its descending 40-day moving average -- but the stock is still hovering south of its pre-bear gap lows from mid-August.
It looks like FL today is capitalizing on an unwinding of excessive bearish sentiment. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.45 ranks in the 98th percentile of its annual range. This indicates that short-term puts have rarely been more popular, relative to calls, in the past year.
What's more, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows Foot Locker stock with a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.76, which ranks in the 77th percentile of its annual range. This suggests that puts were bought to open over calls at a faster-than-usual rate during the past two weeks.
FL's sector peer Hibbett Sports is also on the rise, after the company beat third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations and upwardly revised its fiscal 2018 profit outlook. HIBB is up 16.2% at $17.25 at last check, putting the stock on pace to close above former support at its 120-day moving average for the first time since late December 2016.
Total open interest on the sports retail stock is fairly light -- but among the speculators who have established positions on HIBB, calls are the options of choice. HIBB's SOIR of 0.53 ranks in the lowest percentile of its annual range. This indicates that short-term calls are extremely popular right now, relative to puts.
Shares of TSLA are on the rise after CEO Elon Musk revealed the company's highly-anticipated electric semi truck Thursday. The semi truck -- which will begin production in 2019 --runs on only an electric charge, which is said to last 500 miles. TSLA was last seen up 2.4% at $319.85, with the stock attempting to reclaim a foothold above its 200-day trendline.
Options traders have shown a preference towards calls over puts for Tesla stock during the past two weeks, with data from the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX showing TSLA's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.36 -- which ranks in the 96th percentile of its annual range. In other words, speculators have rarely shown a stronger preference for bullish bets over bearish.