Virgin Galactic Skyrockets And Options Traders Add Fuel

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc SPCE gapped up almost 20% Friday. The space tourism company gained its license from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly civilians to the edge of space.

Virgin Galactic said on Twitter it plans to conduct its next test flight with a fully crewed ship this summer.

Options traders began piling into the stock and purchased dozens of call contracts worth well over $5.5 million. The amount of call contracts purchased is notable for both the number of orders and the amount of money spent per order. The list below includes only a fraction of the call contracts filled and was filtered for orders totaling over 200,000 per piece.

Virgin Galactic's stock traded up 34% to $54.17 at publication time.

See Also: How to Buy Virgin Galactic Stock

Why It’s Important: When a sweep order occurs, it indicates the trader wanted to get into a position quickly and is anticipating an imminent large move in stock price. A sweeper pays market price for the call or put option instead of placing a bid, which sweeps the order book of multiple exchanges to fill the order immediately.

These types of call option orders are usually made by institutions, and retail investors can find watching for sweepers useful because it indicates “smart money” has entered into a position.

The Virgin Galactic Option Trades: Below is a look at the notable options alerts, courtesy of Benzinga Pro:

• At 10:20 a.m., Friday a trader executed a call sweep at the ask of 1377 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $75 expiring on Aug. 20. The trade represented a $509,490 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.70 per option contract.
• At 10:31 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep above the ask of 833 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $41 expiring on June 25. The trade represented a $699,720 bullish bet for which the trader paid $8.40 per option contract.
• At 10:41 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 571 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $75 expiring on Aug. 20. The trade represented a $276,935 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4.85 per option contract.
• At 11:05 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 437 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on July 2. The trade represented a $218,500 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5 per option contract.
• At 11:08 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 715 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $70 expiring on July 2. The trade represented a $368,225 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.15 per option contract.
• At 11:09 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 316 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on Jan. 21, 2022. The trade represented a $506,864 bullish bet for which the trader paid $16.04 per option contract.
• At 11:13 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 517 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on July 2. The trade represented a $276,595 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.35 per option contract.
• At 11:17 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 430 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on July 2. The trade represented a $277,900 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.30 per option contract.
• At 11:18 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 709 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $85 expiring on July 16. The trade represented a $287,145 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4.05 per option contract.
• At 11:23 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep above the ask of 358 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on Jan 21, 2022. The trade represented a $583,540 bullish bet for which the trader paid $16.30 per option contract.
• At 11:55 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 293 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $50 expiring on Jan. 21, 2022. The trade represented a $543,515 bullish bet for which the trader paid $18.55 per option contract.
• At 12:15 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 218 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $60 expiring on Jan. 21, 2022. The trade represented a $318,280 bullish bet for which the trader paid $14.60 per option contract.
• At 12:41 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 543 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $48 expiring on June 25. The trade represented a $325,800 bullish bet for which the trader paid $6 per option contract.
• At 12:43 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 200 Virgin Galactic options with a strike price of $65 expiring on July 15, 2022. The trade represented a $395,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $19.75 per option contract.