Baidu Unusual Options Activity For May 15

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Baidu BIDU.

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 BIDU, 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 9 uncommon options trades for Baidu.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 33% bullish and 44%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 3 are puts, for a total amount of $155,909, and 6 are calls, for a total amount of $926,130.

Expected Price Movements

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $105.0 to $120.0 for Baidu during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

In terms of liquidity and interest, the mean open interest for Baidu options trades today is 937.33 with a total volume of 837.00.

In the following chart, we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Baidu's big money trades within a strike price range of $105.0 to $120.0 over the last 30 days.

Baidu Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Baidu

Baidu is the largest internet search engine in China with 84% share of the search engine market in September 2021 per web analytics firm, Statcounter. The firm generated 72% of core revenue from online marketing services from its search engine in 2022. Outside its search engine, Baidu is a technology-driven company and its other major growth initiatives are artificial intelligence cloud, video streaming services, voice recognition technology, and autonomous driving.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Baidu, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Baidu's Current Market Status

• With a volume of 766,441, the price of BIDU is down -0.7% at $108.65.
• RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings are expected to be released in 1 days.

What The Experts Say On Baidu

3 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $151.66666666666666.

• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from HSBC keeps a Buy rating on Baidu with a target price of $145.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Mizuho keeps a Buy rating on Baidu with a target price of $130.
• An analyst from Benchmark has decided to maintain their Buy rating on Baidu, which currently sits at a price target of $180.

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 Baidu with Benzinga Pro for real-time alerts.