Tilray rally dulls after wave of bullish options activity
Canadian cannabis and booze company Tilray is slipping Wednesday after shooting up more than 100% this month amid a spike in call option activity that has been putting upward pressure on the heavily shorted stock.
Nearly 136,000 calls changed hands on Tuesday, compared to about 49,000 the day before, making it the highest call volume day for the stock this year. The second-highest session for call volumes for Tilray so far this year was on July 9, when 131,159 contracts traded.
The stock fell about 4% on Wednesday after rallying more than 100% in the past month on little news about the company’s fundamentals. Its two best days of the year were this month and coincided with those aforementioned spikes in call volumes.
Tilray’s short interest as a percentage of float sits at more than 20%, as of the end of June. The rise in bullish options activity, which tends to put upward pressure on the stock, may be pushing some short sellers to close their positions, further raising the price.
