Strategist Discusses Options And Volatility In Disney, NVIDIA And Weight Watchers Ahead Of Earnings

• Walt Disney Co DIS, NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Weight Watchers International, Inc. WTW are scheduled to announce quarterly financial results after the market closes on Thursday.
• Benzinga spoke with TD Ameritrade's Chief Strategist JJ Kinahan, who shared some comments on options activity in these stocks ahead of the earnings calls.

Walt Disney

The expert first went into Walt Disney, which he pointed out had a great October from a historical volatility percentile point of view. However, since the end of the month, the historical volatility has gone to the 20^th percentile, so he's now wondering if this will continue one way or the other.

In terms of the expected move from earnings, the market is pricing in a 5 percent variation.

Looking at options activity, the strategist pointed out interesting activity in the $120 puts and $115 calls, which was "not necessarily a surprise, because they are pretty round numbers, and you often see people speculating at those areas."

NVIDIA Corporation

Kinahan then looked into NVIDIA, highlighting that implied volatility stands at the 75^th percentile, and that the market is pricing in a move of 7.5 percent based on earnings.

While the expert did not see great volume most recently, he noted that, "next week, options on the $26 puts" were seeing interesting moves.

Weight Watchers International

According to Kinahan, the market is expecting a 17 percent move on earnings for Weight Watchers.

"The implied volatility is at the 76^th percentile," he added. But what's really interesting, he continued, is that historical volatility is at the 100^th percentile.

The expert looked at volume and said, “we saw big volume after the Oprah announcement, certainly compared to where volumes normally are for Weight Watchers. It's elevated but not crazy," he supplemented. "If you look at the open interest, I don't think anybody would look at the numbers and say they are outrageous, but for Weight Watchers compared to itself, I'd say that this is pretty darn good volume (…) and people are hoping for some big move."

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any of the securities mentioned above.