The U.S. stock market is in rally mode after this mornings jobs report, with the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) barreling back into record-high territory. Among individual names making notable moves are FAANG stock Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), big bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), and Fisher-Price parent Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT). Here's a quick look at how shares of NFLX, GS, and MAT are trading today.
Like Amazon (AMZN), Netflix stock hit a record high earlier -- topping out at $329.01, before easing back to $328.70, up 3.7% on the day. Boosting the shares is a price-target hike to $360 from $319 from Piper Jaffray, and reports former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are in talks with the streaming giant to produce content.
NFLX stock is now boasting a 71% year-to-date advance, and it looks like some eleventh-hour traders are targeting even higher highs by tonight's close. The weekly 3/9 330-strike call is most active, and speculators may be buying to open the contracts for a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $0.59. If this is the case, breakeven for the options bulls is $330.59 (strike plus VWAP).
Goldman Sachs stock briefly pared a portion of its early morning gains after The Wall Street Journal reported the financial firm's long-time CEO Lloyd Blankfein was planning to retire by the end of the year. The bank shares have since shot 1.4% higher to trade at $270.07, and are within a chip-shot of their Jan. 29 record high of $273.79.
Longer term, the shares have added almost 26% from their early September lows -- and even as bank stocks trade in a historically bullish month, GS call options are pricing in remarkably low volatility expectations relative to puts. The security's 30-day implied volatility skew of 16.9% ranks in the 96th annual percentile.
A Reuters report that Toys 'R' Us could start liquidating its U.S. operations has shares of Mattel down 7% at $14.85. This negative price action is just more of the same for MAT stock, which is down nearly 41% year-over-year. Underscoring these technical troubles are swift rejections from the equity's 200-day moving average in late-January and mid-February.
A number of short sellers are likely kicking rocks that they missed out on this next leg lower -- however, there are still plenty of bears profiting off today's slide. While short interest on MAT stock is down almost 25% from its early November peak, there are still 57.94 million Mattel shares sold short, or 16.9% of its available float.