Bulls triple money in $INTC

Intel has yielded exponential returns on upside option positions opened in February.

On Feb. 22, Investitute’s tracking systems flagged the purchase of 8,500 May $57.50 calls in two prints for $0.78 above open interest of 1,038 contracts with shares at $52.82. Investitute co-founder Pete Najarian cited unusual activity in the name at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls sold for as much as $2.51 today, more than 3 times their purchase price. The stock rose 11.45% in the same time period, underscoring how options can far outperform their underlying shares.

Long calls lock in the price where investors can buy a stock, letting them position for a rally at limited cost with the potential for significant leverage. They carry less risk than owning shares because the most that can be lost is the price of the options no matter how far the stock might fall.

INTC reached a session high of $58.88 in midday trading before pulling back to close at $58.49, off 0.12% on the day. The chip maker rallied after announcing its withdrawal from the 5G phone market, which the company has said will does not offer margins as high as those of other businesses.