Oracle Runs In Blue Skies And Options Trades Boost The Stock Further

Last Thursday, Oracle Corporation ORCL announced it would print its fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2021 earnings on June 15 after markets close.

Oracle’s stock has soared over 5% since its earnings announcement despite guidance for the quarter coming in lower than analyst’s estimates.

In its last earnings print back on March 10, Oracle reported earnings per share of $1.16, which beat the consensus estimate of $1.11 and revenue of $10.09 billion, slightly higher than the $10.07 billion expected. Oracle CEO Safra Catz said, for the fourth quarter, she expects Oracle’s earnings per share to come in between $1.20 and $1.24, which would miss the estimate of $1.28, but that she expected revenue to grow 5%-7%, which would beat the estimate of 4% growth.

On Monday, Oracle was up 1.42% in blue skies and a number of options traders bet over $1.38 million higher prices are on the horizon.

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

• At 10:04 a.m., Monday a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1930 Oracle Corporation options with a strike price of $80 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $847,270 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4.39 per option contract.
• At 12:27 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 907 Oracle Corporation options with a strike price of $83.50 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $191,377 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.11 per option contract.
• At 12:27 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 663 Oracle Corporation options with a strike price of $83.50 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $142,545 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.15 per option contract.
• At 12:41 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 659 Oracle Corporation options with a strike price of $84.50 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $117,961 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.79 per option contract.
• At 12:48 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 354 Oracle Corporation options with a strike price of $83.50 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $82,128 bullish bet for which the trader paid $2.32 per option contract.

ORCL Price Action: Shares of Oracle traded up 1.4% to 84.03 a publication time.

Photo credit: Raysonho, via WikimediaCommons