Broadcom Stock Rally Cools Ahead of Earnings

The Apple supplier is set to report earnings after tomorrow's close

The shares of Apple (AAPL) supplier Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) are cooling off slightly, down 1.6% at $279.01 ahead of the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings release after the close tomorrow, June 13. The shares just touched three-week highs yesterday following a seven-day win streak -- the longestsince September 2018 -- but ran into a wall around the $290 area, where AVGO was trading before a May bear gap. This region is also where the shares landed after a post-earnings bull gap in March.

A post-earnings pop could be in the cards for the semiconductor concern, however, if recent history is any indicator. The stock has moved higher the day after its last three earnings reports, enjoying a whopping 8.2% surge after earnings in March. The options market is pricing in an even bigger 9.2% swing this time around, though, coming in much higher than the average 4.5% move after the last eight reports, regardless of direction.

As far as direction, it looks like the options crowd is betting bullishly. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), traders have bought to open nearly two Broadcom calls for every put in the past two weeks.

Echoing that, AVGO's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.60 sits in the 19th percentile of its annual range. This suggests that short-term options player have rarely been more call-heavy in the past 12 months.