Spotlight on Sea: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bullish stance on Sea SE.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with SE, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 18 uncommon options trades for Sea.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 55% bullish and 38%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 8 are puts, for a total amount of $1,387,404, and 10 are calls, for a total amount of $3,273,781.

What's The Price Target?

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $40.0 to $75.0 for Sea over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Development

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Sea's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Sea's significant trades, within a strike price range of $40.0 to $75.0, over the past month.

Sea Option Activity Analysis: Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Sea

Sea operates Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce company, Shopee, in terms of gross merchandise value and number of transactions. Sea started as a gaming business, Garena, but in 2015 expanded into e-commerce, which is now the main growth driver. Shopee is a hybrid C2C and B2C marketplace platform operating in eight core markets. Indonesia accounts for 35% of GMV, with the rest split mainly among Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. For Garena, Free Fire was the most downloaded game in January 2022 and accounted for 74% of gaming revenue in 2021. Sea's third business, SeaMoney, provides mostly credit lending.

Where Is Sea Standing Right Now?

• With a trading volume of 5,011,114, the price of SE is down by -1.71%, reaching $63.8.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 1 days from now.

What The Experts Say On Sea

Over the past month, 4 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $81.25.

• An analyst from Loop Capital upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $92.
• An analyst from B of A Securities upgraded its action to Buy with a price target of $70.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Barclays keeps a Overweight rating on Sea with a target price of $85.
• An analyst from Benchmark has revised its rating downward to Buy, adjusting the price target to $78.

Trading options involves greater risks but also offers the potential for higher profits. Savvy traders mitigate these risks through ongoing education, strategic trade adjustments, utilizing various indicators, and staying attuned to market dynamics. Keep up with the latest options trades for Sea with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts.