Keysight Bulls Double Down as Options Hit 52-Week Extreme

Keysight Technologies arrives at its August 18 earnings report with options traders expressing the most bullish positioning of the past year — a signal that has only grown more pronounced since the constructive setup described ten days ago.

The options market now tells an even stronger story than it did at the start of the month. The put/call ratio has fallen to 0.61, the lowest reading of the past 52 weeks, and sits more than two standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.72. That is not a modest drift toward optimism — it marks a decisive rotation away from hedging and toward outright upside exposure. The move has tracked closely with the stock's performance: KEYS has added nearly 5% on the week and 10% over the past month, closing at $357.82. The prior article noted the PCR had already compressed to 0.74; since then it has dropped a further 18%, reaching territory not seen in any prior session of the trailing year.

Short interest remains a non-event, and the lending market provides no friction for bulls. Bears hold roughly 1.9% of the free float — a low absolute level, though the position has crept up about 11% over the past month as the stock rallied. That divergence, bears adding into strength, is worth watching. Borrowing costs have actually eased, running near 0.37%, and availability is effectively unlimited. There is no squeeze dynamic here, and no evidence of crowded short conviction.

The analyst community has re-rated the stock aggressively since the last quarterly print in May. Morgan Stanley upgraded to Overweight in mid-July with a $400 target, after previously sitting at Equal-Weight. Before that, JPMorgan, Citi, UBS, Wells Fargo, and Barclays all lifted targets in the $385–$420 range immediately following the May results. The formal consensus remains technically flagged as a sell given the skew of the rating distribution, but that single sell rating against a backdrop of multiple Overweight and Buy calls from major houses should be read cautiously — the direction of travel has been unambiguously bullish. Valuation has re-rated alongside: the P/E has expanded roughly 2.4 points over 30 days to 31.4x, and EV/EBITDA runs near 25.5x, reflecting the 70%-plus year-to-date gain the stock has posted.

The print on Monday will test whether Keysight's semiconductor test and measurement franchise can deliver results that justify both the expanded multiple and what is now the most call-heavy options positioning in a year — all while a small but growing short position quietly bets the other way.