Options Traders Bet Bullishly On This Weed Stock

ACB calls have been favored lately

When we checked in with Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) last week, the weed stock was enjoying some bullish analyst attention. While there haven't been any new bull notes to come through, ACB's options pits have seen some interesting activity today.

Specifically, more than 52,000 ACB options have changed hands today -- nearly doublethe average intraday amount. Leading the charge is the weekly 5/3 9.50-strike call, with the May 10 call not far behind. Buyers of these calls expect ACB to rally above the $9.50 and $10 levels, respectively, in the coming days and weeks.

As alluded to last week, ACB calls have been popular for some time now. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), speculative players have bought to open 77,001 calls in the last 10 sessions, compared to just 8,749 puts.

At last check, Aurora Cannabis stock was up 0.6% to trade at $9.13. The shares are still staring up at $9.50, an area that has proved formidable resistance in the last month. Nevertheless, ACB boasts an 84% year-to-date lead, and is ripe for a short squeeze. Short interest increased by 14% in the two most recent reporting periods, to 83.57 million shares, the most since Jan. 1. This represents a healthy 9% of ACB's total available float, and 4.4 times the stock's average daily trading volume.