Restaurants
Bears Feast on YUM Puts Ahead of Earnings
Yum Brands (YUM) sees relative weakness and increased put activity ahead of earnings, due out after the closing bell. The stock is down $1.56 to $63.70 in active trading of 4.4 million shares after BofA/Merrill downgraded YUM (to Underperform), lowered their Price Target (to $60) and said they expect the company to guide estimates lower [...]
Starbucks Corp (SBUX) $57.13 -0.92%
Starbucks (SBUX) is off 57 cents to $57.09 and one investor seems to see a potential rally brewing for the stock. A May 52.5 – 60 bullish risk-reversal is opened on SBUX at 17 cents, 9200X. It’s tied to 484K and is taking advantage of a bit of skew, with downside sporting implied volatility of [...]
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (KKD) $15.04 +0.53%
Krispy Kreme shares traded as high as $15.33 briefly this morning, a new 52wk high and a level more than double the share price 3 months ago when the company last released earnings and spiked 23%. 1day 15 straddle is trading near 9% of spot, suggesting a move more in line with the median historical [...]
Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc (ARCO) $12.51 +0.56%
Someone may have a taste for Hamburguesas today, with call buying in Arcos Dorados Holdings- the largest McDonalds franchisee in Latin America. Buyer is focused on Aug 15 calls, currently 20% above spot, and paid 40 to 45c for a total of about 3500 to open what will be the largest position in the name. [...]
Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI) $45.61 +1.94%
Put volume in Darden Restaurants is running 19x normal morning, driven by sellers of March 44 and 45 strikes as shares trade near 45.50. May close a position opened on Wednesday when buyers of both were active and shares were near the same level.
DineEquity Inc (DIN) $74.93 -1.15%
DineEquity (DIN), a Glendale, CA restaurants company, is off 67 cents to $75.13 and an investor sells a Jun 65 – 85 bearish risk-reversal on the stock at 35 cents, 7500X, to open. It’s tied to 300k shares for $75.40 (adjusted). A separate block of 220K shares traded a bit earlir. The activity might be [...]
Investors Dip into Dunkin (DNKN) Puts
Dunkin Brands (DNKN) drops 46 cents to $36.80 on relatively light volume of 319K shares and options activity on the stock is 3X the daily average. 13,000 puts and 355 calls traded on the ticker. The top trade is a 3850-lot of Mar 35 puts for 45 cents per contract when the market was 40 [...]
Wendys Company (WEN) $5.17 +2.89%
Wendy’s (WEN) adds 14 cents to $5.16 and options volume on the fast food chain is 3.5X the daily average after the company was mentioned favorably in the latest issue of Barrons. 3,005 calls and 145 puts traded on the stock. Feb 5 calls are the most actives and possibly seeing some liquidating trades. 1,795 [...]
Call Buyers Like Dunkin (DNKN)
One trading day after a donut lover swept nearly 8000 Feb 37.5 calls on Dunkin Brands (DNKN) for 35 cents per contract to create the largest open interest position in the name (see 1/18 color), another 1,500 contracts were swept this morning across multiple exchanges for 60 cents. More than 2,000 now traded. Another 580 [...]
Dunkin Brands Group Inc (DNKN) $35.64 +1.68%
Looks like a donut lover just swept nearly 8000 5.5% out of the money Feb 37.5 calls across 5 exchanges- paying 35cents to open a new position that is nearly 8x the normal call volume in the name. Earnings 1/31 so the buyer may be looking for a gap higher than the 3%ish avg move [...]
