Wall Street is anxious to hear about megacap Nvidia's (NVDA) latest quarter, with AI chip sales and unusual deals with the U.S. government in focus, but the semiconductor giant is not the only notable name hitting up the earnings confessional this week. In fact, cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) will report second-quarter results after the close on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
CRWD has been on a path lower since its July 3, record high of $517.98, with news of Alphabet's (GOOGL) divestment and sector peer Fortinet's (FTNT) dismal outlook adding broad market pressure. A familiar floor at $400 appears to be sweeping in, though, which may help preserve the stock's 22.6% year-over-year lead.
The security has a generally positive history of post-earnings moves, finishing five of the past eight earnings reports higher. However, the company's last three reports resulted in negative sessions, including a 5.8% bear gap back in early June. CRWD averaged a next-day swing of 7.7%, regardless of direction, in the last two years. This time around, the options pits are pricing in a far bigger move of 12.7%.
Options traders have grown more pessimistic. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), KDP's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 0.86 ranks higher 85% of readings from the past year. So while calls still outflank puts on an absolute basis, the high percentile indicates the rate of put buying has picked up. Echoing this, CRWD's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.42, which sits in the 98th percentile of annual readings.
