Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) stock is 1.7% lower to trade at $869.90 at last glance, despite the warehouse club retailer reporting an earnings and revenue beat for the fiscal first quarter.
The security has attracted three price-target cuts and two hikes following the event, with Bernstein raising its objective to $1,146 from $1,134. The majority of analysts lean bullish toward COST, with 20 of the 34 in coverage sporting a "buy" or better rating, while the 12-month consensus target price of $1,034.72 is a 17.2% premium to current levels.
Costco stock now sports a 10.8% deficit on the year, drifting lower since trading in the $1,000's to start June. The shares hit their lowest level since April on Wednesday, with the 60-day moving average capping several rallies since November. COST also breached $880 this week, an area that held a late March pullback.
Despite this underperformance, short-term options trades remain firmly bullish. This is per the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which sits in the 1st percentile of its annual range.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 28,000 calls and 21,000 puts have crossed the tape so far, which is four times the volume typically seen at this point. The most active contract is the expiring weekly 12/12 900-strike call, with positions currently being sold to open there.
