Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH), and the takeaway for retail traders is that someone out there expects some volatile times ahead for the renewable energy giant. This realization dawned on us today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
The identities of these big money traders remain a mystery, with no clue as to whether they are institutions or just wealthy individuals. However, when trades of this magnitude emerge for Enphase Energy, it often means that someone out there has valuable information about something that is about to happen with the company.
The discovery was made possible by Benzinga's options scanner, which today spotted a staggering 18 uncommon options trades for Enphase Energy - a number that is far off the charts. The overall sentiment of these big-money traders points to a pessimistic outlook for the company, with only 38% of the trades coming in with a bullish slant, compared to a significant 50% rooted in the bearish camp.
A closer look into the specifics of these unusual options trades reveals that 7 of them are put options, totaling $237,473, along with 11 call options taking in a sum of $767,452. This split could indicate that the players in this game are betting on something going awry with Enphase Energy, as reflected in their heavier investment in bearish trades.
It is not uncommon for traders to weigh their options heavily towards either side, creating significant, lopsided exposure, when they strongly forecast an upcoming event. Since we have seen such substantial investment in the bearish camp for shares of Enphase Energy, the conclusion to be drawn is that there could be some potential for an adverse occurrence lurking around the corner for the company - leading some traders to go long on selling puts to take advantage of what they see as an inevitable downswing.