Core Viewpoint - The Nasdaq-100 index is experiencing its best week since early November, driven by a significant 10.5% increase in Alphabet Inc Class A shares following strong earnings and a stock buyback announcement [1] Group 1: Company Performance - Alphabet Inc Class A shares reached a trading price of $172.17, with a record high of $174.17 after reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded expectations [1] - The company announced a $70 billion stock buyback plan and introduced its first dividend, contributing to investor confidence [1] - Alphabet's stock has increased by 60% year-over-year and 23% in 2024, leading to a market capitalization of $2 trillion, joining the ranks of Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft [1] Group 2: Options Activity - Over 778,000 options have been traded, with 557,000 calls significantly outpacing 220,000 puts, indicating bullish sentiment [2] - Total options volume is currently four times the average intraday amount, highlighting increased trading activity [2] - The weekly 5/3 175-strike call option is seeing notable activity, suggesting it is a key option to monitor [2]

Core Insights - Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock experienced a significant pullback but has quickly regained its 20- and 50-day trendlines, indicating a potential recovery [1] - The stock rebounded from key technical levels, including the 20-week exponential moving average and the February 2022 peak anchored volume weighted average price (AVWAP) [1] - Despite a broader market selloff, BAC's price action shows strength, with recent lows aligning with the front three-month peak put 35 strike [1] Options Activity - At the International Securities Exchange, Cboe Options Exchange, and NASDAQ OMX PHLX, BAC's 50-day put/call volume ratio is higher than 92% of readings from the past year, indicating increased bearish sentiment among traders [2] - The current options premium for Bank of America stock is reasonably priced, with a Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 23%, which is in the 18th percentile of its annual range [2] - The Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) stands at 77 out of 100, suggesting that BAC has exceeded options traders' volatility expectations over the past year [2] Analyst Ratings - There is potential for upgrades, as 14 out of 24 covering brokerage firms maintain a "hold" or worse rating on BAC [3] - A recommended August call option has a leverage ratio of 7.96, which would double with a 12.96% increase in the underlying shares [3]

Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) stock is 11.6% lower to trade at $31.04 at last check. Though the semiconductor giant's first-quarter profits beat expectations, revenue missed the mark. In addition, the blue chip's current-quarter outlook came in well below analysts' estimates.No fewer than 18 analysts cut their price targets in response, with the lowest coming from Wolfe Research to $29 from $31. The brokerage bunch is skeptical of INTC, with 29 of 34 firms in question calling it a tepid "hold" or worse, but the ...

Group 1: Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) - Caterpillar's stock is down 6.4% at $340.21 after missing first-quarter revenue estimates and issuing a weak current-quarter forecast [1] - The stock fell to its lowest level since early February and is at risk of closing below the 60-day moving average for the first time since December [1] - Despite the decline, Caterpillar remains up 15.1% year-to-date [1] - Options trading is active, with 17,000 calls and 20,000 puts traded, which is double the intraday average volume [1] - The most popular option is the weekly 4/26 325-strike put, expiring at the close tomorrow [1] Group 2: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) - Merck's stock is up 3.3% at $131.18 after exceeding top- and bottom-line expectations for the first quarter [2] - The company raised its annual profit and revenue forecast, contributing to positive market sentiment [2] - Merck's stock is close to its record high of $133.08 set on March 27 and has a year-to-date gain of 20.2% [2] - The equity has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.55, indicating that short-term options traders are leaning bullish [2]

IBM Corp (NYSE:IBM) is at the bottom of the Dow today, last seen down 8.7% to trade at $167.95. There's a lot to unpack from Big Blue's quarterly report; first-quarter earnings topped estimates, but revenue fell short. The tech titan cited foreign exchange as a headwind for the rest of 2024, and agreed to buy cloud company HashiCorp (HCP) for $6.4 billion, or $35 per share. At least four price-target cuts followed, the worst coming from J.P. Morgan Securities to $185 from $190. Wedbush, meanwhile, hiked its ...

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) stock is down 13% at $429.32 at last glance -- its lowest level since Feb. 1 -- after the company's quarterly report. While the Facebook and Instagram parent's first-quarter earnings and revenue both topped estimates, a weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue guidance is weighing on META this morning. Options traders are rushing to place their bets after the event. Today's options pits show ample activity from both sides of the aisle, but bulls are edging out bears. With ...

Core Viewpoint - Netflix Inc's stock is experiencing a decline, down 3.7% to $556.33, marking its fifth loss in six sessions, but it still shows strong year-to-date and year-over-year gains [1][2] Stock Performance - The stock is down 8.3% this quarter, yet it has a 14.4% lead year-to-date and a 72.7% gain year-over-year [1] - Netflix stock is outperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which is up only 6.2% in 2024 [2] Technical Analysis - The stock is near a historically bullish trendline and has recently come within one standard deviation of its 80-day moving average [1] - Historical data indicates that 67% of similar signals in the past three years led to a 10.3% gain one month later, suggesting potential for the stock to rise above $613 [1] Market Sentiment - Despite its strong performance, 17 out of 40 analysts rate Netflix as a "hold" or worse, indicating some pessimism in the market [2] - The Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) for Netflix is at 29%, in the low 12th percentile of its annual range, suggesting attractively priced options premiums [2]

Group 1 - Mizuho upgraded Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) to "buy" from "neutral" and increased its price target to $200 from $150, citing potential growth from sponsored listings and demand from the summer Olympics [1] - The majority of analysts remain skeptical, with 26 out of 36 firms rating the stock as a "hold" or worse, and a 12-month consensus target price of $151.40, indicating an 8.2% discount to current levels [1] Group 2 - Short-term options traders are leaning bullish, as indicated by Airbnb's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.09, which is in the low 17th percentile of the last 12 months [2] - Options volume is currently running at double the intraday average, with 3,416 calls and 2,207 puts traded, and the weekly 4/26 170-strike call is the most popular [2] - Airbnb shares reached a two-year high of $170.10 on March 21 before pulling back to around $155, and are now consolidating above the 20-day moving average with a year-over-year gain of 46.9% [2]

Core Viewpoint - NVIDIA Corp's stock has significantly increased in value since the start of 2023 but experienced a sharp decline of 10% in a single day, resulting in a loss of approximately $212 billion in market capitalization, which is larger than the market caps of companies like Adobe, Walt Disney, and McDonald's [1] Group 1: Stock Performance After Large Losses - Stocks that have lost at least $50 billion in a single day tend to perform well in the following months, with an average return that outperforms the S&P 500 Index across various timeframes [2][3] - The average return for stocks after such declines was better than the S&P 500 Index at all observed timeframes, from one week to one year later [2][4] - Approximately 54% of the time, stocks outperformed the S&P 500 Index three months later, but this percentage decreased to 42% and 46% at six and twelve months, respectively [3] Group 2: Comparative Returns - If an investor had chosen to buy the S&P 500 Index instead of the stock after a significant loss, the average return over the next three months would have been only 6.25%, compared to an average gain of 13% for the stocks [5][6] - Stocks that gained at least $50 billion in market capitalization on a 10% move or more typically saw better performance if purchased after a week of the initial gain, rather than immediately [7] - After a significant gain, stocks averaged a loss of 1% in the first week but gained an average of 10.6% six months later, with a one-year return averaging 14.7% compared to 8.6% for the S&P 500 [7]

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) is up 1.7% at $407.61 today, bouncing off familiar support at the $400 level. The equity is one of the 'Magnificent Seven' stocks that staged a sharp pullback last week as Big Tech slid.MSFT is also seeing support at a historically bullish trendline, its 100-day moving average.  Per Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, the security has come within one standard deviation of this moving average five times over the past three years, after which it was higher one mon ...