Software Stock Nabs New High After Big Goldman Upgrade

Weekly SPLK options are popular today

Last Wednesday, the shares of Splunk Inc (NASDAQ:SPLK) climbed above $150for the first time ever. Today, that level has been toppled once again, with SPLK last seen up 1.2% to trade at $151.06 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the software concern to "buy" from "neutral." While also boosting its price target to $180 from $147, the analyst in coverage praised the company's updated pricing model and touted the revenue potential of its recently acquired cloud company SignalFX.

Out of the gate, Splunk stock nabbed a new record high of $152.67. Just 10 days ago, the shares gapped higher in the wake of a well-received quarterly report. SPLK has now stretched its year-to-date lead to 45%, but in doing so has brought its 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) to an overbought 78, at last check.

Options traders have been betting bearishly. This is per the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.86, which ranks in the 79th annual percentile. And not even an hour into today's trading, options volume is ramping up. More than 4,300 contracts have already changed hands, double the intraday amount and buy-to-open activity detected at the weekly 12/6 155-strike call and weekly 12/6 140-strike put.

With earnings come and gone, a volatility crush means near-term options are attractively priced at the moment. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 30% sits in just the 4th percentile of its annual range, meaning now is an opportune time to speculate on SPLK short-term trajectory with options.