Upstart Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UPST) shares are 15.6% lower to trade at $32.88 at last glance, after the fintech company reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 46 cents per share, short of the 47 cent estimates. Revenue topped estimates, though, for the fourth quarter.
Analysts are chiming in with three price-target cuts, the worst coming from Truist to $49 from $59. Considering the 12-month consensus price target of $60.33 is a 79.4% premium to current levels, more bear notes could soon be on the way.
On the charts, UPST is trading well below its descending 100-day moving average that capped gains in early-January. The stock is down 48% over the past 12 months, dangerously close to its April 4 18-month low of $31.40.
Call traders are unfazed by the struggles. UPST sports a 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.87 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) which stands higher than 92% of all other annual readings, hinting at a much healthier-than-usual appetite for bearish bets over bullish of late.
Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.15 sits in the 100th percentile of its annual range, suggesting short-term option players have rarely been more call-heavy throughout the past 12 months.
Today is more of the same. Over 19,000 calls and 12,000 across the tape -- six times the amount typically seen at this point. The most popular contract being the February 30 call, while positions are being bought to open at the February 38 put.
