Pharmaceutical name Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), the maker of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, is in the spotlight today after announcing roughly 9,000 job cuts and slashing its full-year guidance. The company, which is seeing increased competition, is hoping to save $1.3 billion annually through its major restructuring plan.
BMO Securities reiterated its "market perform" rating after news. This comes just one day after Bernstein Securities upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "market perform," citing growth potential.
At last glance, NVO was up 1.1% to trade at $54.92. The stock recently rebounded off its Aug. 6 nearly four-year low of $45.05, but ran into pressure at the 40-day moving average, which provided a firm ceiling in July. Year-to-date, the equity is down 36.2%.
Over in the options pits, calls have been much more popular than usual over the last 10 weeks. NVO's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.17 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 98% of readings from the past year. Today, 16,000 calls have been exchanged so far in comparison to 5,367 puts, with the most activity at the December 65 call.
These options are reasonably priced at the moment too. Novo Nordisk stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 41% sits in the low 15th percentile of its annual range, meaning options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations.
