Today’s tickers: KSS, BLOX & TASR
KSS - Kohl’s Corp. – U.S. equities are moving higher on Thursday morning on optimism legislators will tackle the fiscal cliff, but shares in apparel and home goods retailer, Kohl’s Corp., failed to join in on the rally after the company said November same-store sales will be down 5.6% versus the 2.1% increase in the metric forecast by analysts. The department store operator’s shares are off the lowest levels of the session, down 8% on the day at $47.00 as of 11:40 a.m. in New York. Upside call buying in the front month options suggests some traders anticipate a rebound in the price of the underlying in the near term. The heaviest trading traffic in the December expiry options is in the $50 strike calls where around 3,300 contracts have changed hands against open interest of 845 positions. Time and sales data indicates the bulk of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $0.15 apiece. Call buyers stand ready to profit at expiration next month should shares in Kohl’s increase 7% to surpass the average breakeven price of $50.15. Finally, it appears one options trader who purchased 2,000 calls at the Dec. $52.5 strike yesterday took a big hit today with the substantial decline in the stock price. Premium on the calls, purchased at $0.55 apiece on Wednesday, has collapsed overnight to just $0.05 per contract as of midday on the East Coast.
BLOX - Infoblox, Inc. – Shares in the provider of network automation technology and services are soaring today after the company swung to a first-quarter profit of $0.06 a share, beating the average analyst forecast for a break-even quarter. The stock is up nearly 37% as of midday in New York to trade at $19.01, the highest level since mid-October, and was raised to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ with a 12-month target price of $21.00 at Wedbush. Options on Infoblox are far more active than usual, with 715…
