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SpaceX exits quiet period and enters Nasdaq 100. (0:17) PepsiCo headlines light earnings calendar. (1:16) ‘Ghost ticketing’ investigation. (2:23)
SpaceX (SPCX) gets two major catalysts this week, and the options market suggests traders are expecting a solid—and possibly spectacular—move.
On Tuesday, the IPO quiet period ends, freeing analysts to publish ratings and price targets. The stock will also join the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ).
The July 10 options chain shows traders positioned for those twin catalysts, with the $180 and $190 calls attracting the strongest bullish interest.
SPCX closed at $162 on Thursday, with weekly options implying a move of about ±9% by Friday’s expiration. The $180 and $190 calls represent gains of roughly 11% and 17%, respectively.
Downside positioning is relatively light, with little in the options chain pointing to strong bearish conviction.
Then there’s the $330 call. On a stock trading at $162, 106,038 contracts changed hands despite carrying just 36,131 contracts of open interest. At about $0.20 each, they represent retail lottery tickets in their purest form—a wager that SpaceX more than doubles by Friday.
PepsiCo (PEP) headlines the earnings calendar on Thursday, with analysts expecting EPS of $2.21 on revenue of about $24B.
SA analyst Motti Sapir, who rates the stock a Hold, says PepsiCo needs to show “clear growth in North America for both drinks and snacks, real positive free cash flow, and proof it can control costs without losing ground to rivals” for the bulls to return.
But Kody’s Dividends, which rates the stock a Buy, argues PepsiCo remains an attractive value and income play and “also looks like it can sustain respectable constant-currency core EPS growth in the years ahead.”
Also on the earnings calendarm, Levi Strauss (LEVI) reports on Wednesday, while Delta Air Lines (DAL) reports on Friday.
Looking to the economy, the FOMC will release the minutes from its first meeting under Chairman Kevin Warsh on Wednesday.
Wells Fargo economists say they will be watching for “any signs of what could shift a divided Committee from a hold toward rate hikes.”
“We will be looking at whether a majority of participants view the recent pickup in inflation as persistent enough to warrant additional tightening or as primarily a temporary supply shock,” they said.
“We will also be interested in the extent to which Committee members view the labor market and the demand side of the economy as an inflationary problem.”
In the news this weekend, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into allegations that StubHub (STUB) canceled or failed to deliver World Cup tickets in a practice known as “ghost ticketing.”
Soccer fans across the country complained that their tickets were canceled days, or sometimes hours, before matches.
StubHub blamed the issue on “transfer problems” with FIFA’s ticketing platform. But Paxton said consumers instead attribute the cancellations to “ghost ticketing,” in which sellers collect payment for tickets they don’t possess and later cancel the sale.
And starting Monday, Tesla (TSLA) will cap employees’ spending on AI products at $200 a week.
The Information reported that the limit will not apply to xAI.
Earlier this year, Elon Musk said output per Tesla employee “is going to get nutty high” thanks to the company’s internal use of AI and its Optimus humanoid robot program.
And it’s a busy week for dividend investors.
On Monday, AI bellwether Micron (MU), GE Aerospace (GE), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) all go ex-dividend.
Micron pays on July 21, GE on July 27, JPMorgan on July 31 and Cisco on July 22.
On Tuesday, Dollar General (DG) goes ex-dividend, with a July 21 payout.
The New York Times (NYT) goes ex-dividend on Wednesday and will pay shareholders on July 23.
Accenture (ACN) and Mastercard (MA) both go ex-dividend on Thursday.
Accenture pays on August 14, while Mastercard’s payout is August 7.
On Friday, AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Toll Brothers (TOL), Oracle (ORCL) and Lennar (LEN) all go ex-dividend.
AT&T pays out on August 3. Verizon pays out on August 3, with Marvell on July 30 and Toll Brothers, Lennar and Oracle on July 24.
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