Earnings In Play
On the chart below, the blue stocks are expected to announce earnings before the open, while orange stocks are scheduled to announce after the close of the market.
What's particularly striking about 2025 is the return of extreme price swings. The data shows that 4% of trading days have experienced ranges exceeding 5%. This is a level of volatility not seen since the pandemic shock of 2020. These dramatic intraday swings indicate substantial market uncertainty.
With the VIX at 30-day, the market projects quite a wide range of uncertainty of price movement. The downside expected move in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq would reach lows not seen since April 2024.
Alphabet (GOOG) reports earnings after the close Thursday, the second of the Mag 7 stocks to announce quarterly results. (Tesla TSLA reported fter the close Tuesday). The stock is down 20% year-to-date with sentiment tanking on google search/AI. Maybe the bad news is already baked into the price? A call diagonal long the JUN 155 and short the MAY 165 nets 25 long delta for just $5.54.
In the hype of the AI "froth,” Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) traded over $200 a share. Semiconductors have been one of the hardest-hit sectors, with AMD down almost 30% this year among other big names like Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) down similar amounts. AMD reports earnings on May 6, and if you think the worst might be behind us the 75 strike MAY put trades at around $2.17 with a breakeven back to near pre-pandemic prices.
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Michael Rechenthin, Ph.D., (aka “Dr. Data”), managing director of research and development, has 25 years of trading and markets experience. He’s known best for his weekly Cherry Picks newsletter. On Thursdays, he appears on Trades from the Research Team LIVE.
Nick Battista, tastylive director of market intelligence, has a decade of trading experience. He appears Monday-Friday on Options Trading Concepts Live. On Wednesdays, he co-hosts Johnny Trades. @tradernickybat
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