WDAY Stock Could Stay Hot After Bull Signal

A rare signal just flashed for Workday

The shares of Workday Inc (NASDAQ: WDAY) are up 55.6% year-to-date to trade at $158.07, hitting a record high of $172.67 earlier this month. Now, WDAY just came within one standard deviation of its 10-month moving average -- a historically bullish trendline that could be signaling more upside for the software name.

According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, the security has pulled back to this long-term moving average after a lengthy stretch above it three other times in the past three years. WDAY has seen a higher return each time -- averaging a 8.4% return four weeks later, and a 29% return three months later. For perspective, a similar move this time around would place the stock above $200 in the next three months.

The tech concern could see additional upgrades on its next leg higher, too, with the 32 analyst evenly split between "buy" or better and "hold" or worse ratings. What's more, options traders have been unusually bearish, with WDAY sporting a 50-day put/call rating of 1.22 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Plus, this ratio sits in the high 98th percentile of its annual range, which means that traders have had an unusually high appetite for bearish bets -- a potential catalyst for tailwinds should this pessimism begin to unwind.