Earnings season opens this week. Options markets are already pricing in volatility across several key names.
NKE and STZ headline the reporting calendar Thursday. NKE carries a short interest of just 4.1% of free float. Yet its options chain shows active expiries stacked into late July and August. Traders are buying time. That pattern suggests uncertainty around the brand's turnaround, not a quick bounce trade.
STZ tells a similar story. Short interest sits at 5.1% of free float. Its availability ratio is enormous at 2,186% of SI — shorts face no squeeze risk. Options expiries cluster around July and September, pointing to hedges rather than directional bets.
The most interesting signal comes from CALM. Cal-Maine Foods faces a potential DOJ egg-pricing settlement, per Bloomberg. Short interest is 11.4% of free float. Yet its options chain is thin — only two expiries exist, in July and August. That squeeze of open interest into a narrow window amplifies any settlement news impact.
COIN shows 11.3% short interest. Bitcoin has dropped below $60,000 this week. Bearish sentiment is building. Coinbase options expiries run almost daily out to August, signalling heavy speculative activity from both directions.
INTC has 15 active expiries through September. Reports say TSMC remains the key chip supplier despite Intel's lobbying. Options traders appear positioned for the stock to stay range-bound rather than break out.
Watch NKE and STZ closely Thursday. Their reports will set the early tone for consumer sentiment this earnings season.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
