$ATOS option bulls score big

Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) is up sharply today, delivering big gains on upside option positions opened last last month.

On May 5, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity Service found that 3,100 June $2.50 calls were bought for $0.70 to $0.85 above open interest of just 1,714 contracts with shares at $2.25.

Those calls have traded up to $3.80 so far this session, more than 4 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 268.44% at the same time, showing how options can quickly outperform their underlying shares by a wide margin.

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.

ATOS was last up 24.41% at $5.75 in midday trade. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced today that it is scheduled to release final data from its Phase 2 study of Endoxifen administered to breast cancer patients, prior to surgery, at 8:00 AM PT on Jun. 9.