Bearish Options Trade Bets Utilities SPDR (XLU) Rally Running On Empty

Qlik Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:QLIK) – Shares in the maker of business intelligence products are popping on Friday, up more than 13% at $27.04 as of 1:00 p.m. in New York, after the company posted a narrower than expected first-quarter loss after the close on Thursday. Some options traders appear to be positioning for the price of the underlying to extend gains during the next couple of months, with far out-of-the-money June expiry calls changing hands in the early going today. The Jun $31 strike calls traded roughly 2,300 times during the first half of the trading session versus open interest of just 269 contracts. It looks like most of the calls were purchased at a premium of $0.80 each within 10 minutes of the opening bell this morning. The bullish strategy makes money if shares in Qlik Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:QLIK) rally another 17.6% over the current price of $27.04 to top an average breakeven point and fresh 52-week high of $31.80 by June expiration. The Jun $32 strike calls also attracted some attention today, with some 520 lots purchased this morning at an average premium of $0.50 per contract.

Caitlin Duffy
Equity Options Analyst

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