Penny Stock Rallies on EpiPen Rival

The shares are set for their best day in months

The shares of Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ADMP) have added 11.2% to trade at $2.92 in early market trading, on the U.S. launch of the company's allergy treatment, Symjepi. The drug -- launched by commercial partner Sandoz -- will directly compete with pharma company Mylan's (MYL) popular EpiPen. The jump has ADMP stock pacing for its third straight win today, and on track for its best session since late September.

The pharma concern has been on the rebound since it bottomed out at a 10-year low of $2.01 on Dec. 20. The shares have rallied roughly 45% since then, and are set to topple their 120-day moving average today -- a trendline it hasn't conquered since September.

Analysts have remained quietly optimistic on the stock. Of the threewho do follow ADMP, two give it a "buy" or better rating, and one issued a "hold." The lofty consensus 12-month price target of $7.00 represents a 140.5% premium to current levels.

Short interest dropped 8.3% in the most recent reporting period. However, the 3.6 million shares still sold short still represent a healthy 11.5% of the stock's available float. At ADMP's average trading volume, it would take over a week for traders to cover these pessimistic positions.

Prior to today, options traders could scoop up ADMP's near-term contracts at a relative bargain. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 94% is higher than only 10% of all other readings from the past year. This means that near-term options are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.