J.P. Morgan quant's 20 highest beta stocks in the S&P 500

Beta measures stock price volatility and a high-beta stock (with a beta above 1.0) tends to more risky with greater potential reward. Investors are now flocking to high-beta names after previously crowding into momentum stocks (due to megacap and AI fear of missing out) in January and low volatility in April (on worries about tariffs, a recession and AI overspending).

 

1. Super Micro Computer (SMCI), beta score 3.37
2. Coinbase Global (COIN), 2.82
3. Palantir Technologies (PLTR), 2.41
4. Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), 2.39
5. Broadcom (AVGO), 2.35
6. Nvidia (NVDA), 2.32
7. Micron Technology (MU), 2.30
8. Western Digital (WDC), 2.19
9. Arista Networks (ANET), 2.17
10. AMD (AMD), 2.13
11. Dell (DELL), 2.08
12. Vistra (VST), 2.00
13. Lam Research (LRCX), 1.98
14. Microchip Technology (MCHP), 1.92
15. Crowdstrike (CRWD), 1.91
16. KKR (KKR), 1.90
17. Teradyne (TER), 1.88
18. KLA (KLAC), 1.87
19. Carnival (CCL), 1.87
20. Tesla (TSLA), 1.86

• by vol https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ta=0&o=-volume&t=AMD,ANET,AVGO,CCL,COIN,CRWD,DELL,KKR,KLAC,LRCX,MCHP,MPWR,MU,NVDA,PLTR,SMCI,TER,TSLA,VST,WDC

     

     

     

 

                   

Unusual Options Activity Fri 8/11/23

The following options are exhibiting notable trading, potentially indicating changing sentiment toward the underlying stocks, and/or potentially representing positioning for increased volatility.

Bullish Call Activity:

• MARA Aug 15 calls (volume: 1770, open int: 6810, implied vol: ~188%, prev day implied vol: 114%). Co is expected to report earnings mid-November.
• CLSK Aug 7.5 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 11% (volume: 4870, open int: 2410, implied vol: ~133%, prev day implied vol: 118%). Co is scheduled to present at a HC Wainwright conference on September 11. Co is expected to report earnings mid-November.
• LRCX Aug 665 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock down 4% (volume: 1950, open int: 0, implied vol: ~50%, prev day implied vol: 40%). Co is expected to report earnings mid-October.
  

Bearish Put Activity:

• RBLX Aug 30 puts (volume: 1560, open int: 3360, implied vol: ~93%, prev day implied vol: 57%). Co is expected to report earnings early November.
• CRWD Aug 150 puts (volume: 2170, open int: 490, implied vol: ~52%, prev day implied vol: 44%). 1K traded in a single transaction. Co is confirmed to report earnings August 30 after the close.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 1.07, VIX: (15.64, -0.21, -1.3%).
August 18 is options expiration -- the last day to trade August equity options.

Lam Research (LRCX) reported earnings on Wed 23 Oct 19 (a/h)

** charts after earnings **

Lam Research beats by $0.16, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus

Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $3.18 per share, $0.16 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $3.02; revenues fell 7.1% year/year to $2.17 bln vs the $2.17 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

• Non-GAAP gross margin of 45.4%, non-GAAP operating income as a percentage of revenue of 25.5%

Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $3.60-4.00, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.14 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q2 revs of $2.35-2.65 bln vs. $2.2 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Lam Research (LRCX) reported earnings on Tue 17 Apr 2018 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

 

** charts after earnings **

Lam Research beats by $0.41, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus 

• Reports Q3 (Mar) earnings of $4.79 per share, $0.41 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $4.38; revenues rose 34.2% year/year to $2.89 bln vs the $2.85 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Reports shipments of $3.13 billion, up 19% q/q.
• Gross margin of 46.0% vs. 46.7% last quarter.
• Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $4.80-$5.20 vs. $4.65 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $2.95-$3.25 bln vs. $2.94 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sees Non-GAAP gross margin of 46.5-48.5%.