Snowflake Stock Soars, Options Traders Bets It Drifts Higher Still

Snowflake Inc SNOW announced it would print its earnings results on Aug. 25 after the markets close and the stock looks to be beginning to run up into the event. The cloud computing-based data warehousing company went public last September and soared about 85% in the two months that followed, reaching an all-time high of $429 in early December.

Interest waned in Snowflake and the stock entered into a steep downtrend, making fairly consistent lower highs and lower lows, until it put in a bottom on May 13 at the $184 mark. Snowflake then reversed course and began a bullish uptrend.

On Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. Snowflake’s stock had already surpassed its average 10-day trading volume by over one million with 3.45 million shares traded in comparison to 2.18 million.

Options traders jumped in, beginning first thing Tuesday morning, and began to hammer call contracts, purchasing a total of $925,936 worth. Most of the traders chose a strike price of $300 with an expiry of Aug. 6 indicating they believe Snowflake’s bull run will continue over the next few days.

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 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 SNOW Trades: Below is a look at the notable options alerts, courtesy of Benzinga Pro:

• At 9:32 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 252 Snowflake options with a strike price of $285 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $59,976 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.38 per option contract.
• At 9:33 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep at the ask of 200 Snowflake options with a strike price of $310 expiring on Aug. 27. The trade represented a $112,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.60 per option contract.
• At 9:35 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 301 Snowflake options with a strike price of $290 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $75,250 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.50 per option contract.
• At 9:35 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 251 Snowflake options with a strike price of $285 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $90,360 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.60 per option contract.
• At 9:35 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 281 Snowflake options with a strike price of $290 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $68,845 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.45 per option contract.
• At 9:36 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 269 Snowflake options with a strike price of $295 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $44,385 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.65 per option contract.
• At 9:40 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 250 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $45,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.80 per option contract.
• At 9:42 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 231 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 13. The trade represented a $92,400 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4 per option contract.
• At 9:58 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep above ask of 216 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $33,696 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.56 per option contract.
• At 9:58 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 293 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $46,880 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.60 per option contract.
• At 10:03 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 200 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $31,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.55 per option contract.
• At 10:04 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 304 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $48,944 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.61 per option contract.
• At 10:04 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 255 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $46,410 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.82 per option contract.
• At 10:11 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 212 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $31,800 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.50 per option contract.
• At 10:19 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 300 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $46,500 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.55 per option contract.
• At 10:34 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep near the ask of 290 Snowflake options with a strike price of $300 expiring on Aug. 6. The trade represented a $52,490 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.81 per option contract.