Red Hat (RHT) Dips Following Earnings, Is it A Buy?

This week we are looking at another of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 List companies.  We use this list in one of our portfolios to spot outperforming stocks and place spreads that take advantage of the momentum.

We wish you the best of the holiday season…

Terry

Red Hat (RHT) Dips Following Earnings, Is it A Buy?

Red Hat stock pulled back in the past week after crushing third-quarter earnings targets.  Several analysts revised up their price targets both ahead and after the earnings report.  Here are two of them – Red Hat (RHT) PT Raised to $145 at Barclays, Sees a Strong Q3 Report Ahead and Red Hat (RHT) PT Raised to $150 at Deuthsche Bank on 3Q Beat & Raised FY Guidance.

RHT has seen a strong rally throughout the year and last week’s pullback has not altered the positive technical outlook.  A rising trendline dating back to a low posted in August remains intact and held the stock higher in the past week.  Horizontal support at the psychological $120.00 handle was found near the trendline line to add confluence.  In the absence of a bearish catalyst, the technicals suggests the stock can continue its uptrend from here.

RHT Chart December 2017

*source Tradingview.com

If you agree there’s further upside ahead for Red Hat, consider this trade which is a bet that the stock will continue to advance, at least a little bit, over the next four weeks.

Buy To Open RHT 19 Jan 18 $122 Puts (RHT180119P122)
Sell To Open RHT 19 Jan 18 $123 Puts (RHT180119P123) for a credit of $0.50 (selling a vertical)

This price was $0.02 less than the mid-point of the option spread when RHT was trading near $123.  Unless the stock rallies quickly from here, you should be able to get close to this amount.

If you use our favorite broker for this trade, tastyworks, your commission on this trade will only be $1 per opening contract ($2 per spread) (and there is no commission on closing trades, only the $.10 clearing fee).  Each contract would then yield $48 and your broker would charge a $100 maintenance fee, making your investment $52 ($100 – $48).  If RHT closes at any price above $123 on January 19, 2018, both options would expire worthless, and your return on the spread would be 92% (1053% annualized).

Changes to Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) Top 50 This Week:

IBD Underlying Updates December 21, 2017

We have found that the Investor’s Business Daily Top 50 List has been a reliable source of stocks that are likely to move higher in the short run.  Recent additions to the list might be particularly good choices for this strategy, and deletions might be good indicators for exiting a position that you might already have on that stock.

As with all investments, you should only make option trades with money that you can truly afford to lose.

Happy trading,

Terry