$CIEN calls triple overnight

Ciena surged on strong quarterly results today, handing big gains to option traders who opened upside positions only one session earlier.

Just yesterday, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 3,400 December $33 calls for $1.05 to $1.23, including one print of 3,000 for $1.15. Shares traded for $32.21 at that time.

Those calls traded for $3.60 this morning, more than 3 times their average purchase price. The stock rose 13.38% at the same time, illustrating the kind of leverage that can be achieved quickly with options.

Long calls lock in the price where a stock can be purchased, gaining with a rally and providing leverage to the underlying shares. The contracts can quickly lose value if the stock stalls or pulls back but also carry less risk than owning the shares themselves.

CIEN jumped 8.62% to $34.91 today. The networking-equipment maker topped earnings and sales expectations before the market opened this morning.