Today’s tickers: P, CBS & XCO
P – Pandora Media, Inc. – Traders that appear to be speculating on a rebound in shares of the provider of Internet radio services turned-up the volume in Pandora Media call options today. Shares in Pandora, which have been beaten down in recent months, increased as much as 10.5% to $8.91 in the first half of the session before losing some steam to stand up 4.9% on the day at $8.45 as of 1:15 p.m. ET. The stock is down 15.0% year-to-date and more than 65.0% since touching a peak value of $26.00 at the June 2011 IPO. June expiry call options saw the most action today, with the $9.0 strike call changing hands more than 6,700 times versus open interest of just 354 contracts. Most of the $9.0 calls appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $0.76 apiece. Call buyers profit at expiration as long as shares in Pandora jump 15.0% to surpass the average breakeven point at $9.76 by June expiration. Traders positioning for shares to extend gains also snapped up around 1,000 in-the-money calls at the June $8.0 strike for a premium of $1.10 a-pop. Pandora Media, Inc. is slated to release first-quarter earnings after the market closes on May 24th.
CBS – CBS Corp. – A burst of call buying on CBS Corp. caught our eye today, with shares in the name trading up 1.2% at $33.31 in early-afternoon trade. The bulk of the options volume in the mass media company appears to be betting on continued near-term appreciation in the price of the underlying shares, perhaps ahead of the Company’s first quarter earnings release after the final bell on May 1st. The most active contracts in play on CBS Corp. today are the May…
