Spotlight on Carnival: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Carnival CCL.

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 CCL, 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 11 uncommon options trades for Carnival.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 36% bullish and 63%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 6 are puts, for a total amount of $483,460, and 5 are calls, for a total amount of $619,274.

Expected Price Movements

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $12.0 to $22.0 for Carnival over the recent three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Carnival's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Carnival's significant trades, within a strike price range of $12.0 to $22.0, over the past month.

Carnival 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Carnival

Carnival is the largest global cruise company, with 92 ships in service at the end of fiscal 2023. Its portfolio of brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; Aida in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe. It's currently folding its P&O Australia brand into Carnival. The firm also owns Holland America Princess Alaska Tours in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Carnival's brands attracted nearly 13 million guests in 2019, prior to covid-19, a level it reached again in 2023.

Having examined the options trading patterns of Carnival, our attention now turns directly to the company. This shift allows us to delve into its present market position and performance

Carnival's Current Market Status

• With a volume of 19,022,622, the price of CCL is down -1.08% at $14.61.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be oversold.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 46 days.

What Analysts Are Saying About Carnival

In the last month, 3 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $20.0.

• Maintaining their stance, an analyst from JP Morgan continues to hold a Overweight rating for Carnival, targeting a price of $25.
• An analyst from Morgan Stanley has decided to maintain their Underweight rating on Carnival, which currently sits at a price target of $15.
• An analyst from Truist Securities persists with their Hold rating on Carnival, maintaining a target price of $20.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Carnival, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.