Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) stock is 3% lower to trade at $43.35 this morning. The telecom giant reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of $1.31 on $34.30 billion in revenue, the former of which beat estimates, while the latter fell short. Verizon also hiked its full-year guidance, announced phone additions at a five-year high, and expanded its AI infrastructure partnership with Amazon Web Services in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. Instead, the revenue miss and SpaceX's (SPCX) recent forays into the cell service provider space are weighing this morning.
Verizon stock is 16% off its March 24 five-year high of $51.68. The shares are up 11% year over year, while its year-to-date breakeven level is stepping up as support today. This area roughly coincides with the round-number $40 level.
Puts are more popular than usual. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.74 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), sits in the 80th percentile of its annual range. While calls are still outflanking puts on an absolute basis, the high percentile hints at a healthier-than-usual appetite for bearish bets of late.
Today, the weekly 10/30 42.50-strike put is the most popular, while the 43-strike put is also seeing notable attention.
VZ's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at a relatively high 96 out of 100, indicating Apple's stock has tended to exceed option traders' volatility expectations during the past year.
