$BRKS call prices surge in hours

Option traders who opened bullish positions in Brooks Automation this morning tripled their money by noon.

Barely half an hour into the session, Investitute’s market scanners identified the purchase of 2,000 October $40 calls in one print for $0.70 with shares at $36.09. This was clearly a new position, as open interest in the strike was only 231 contracts before the activity appeared.

Less than 90 minutes later those calls were trading up to $2.30, more than 3 times their purchase price. The stock rose 9.59% at the same time, showing how quickly 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.

BRKS spiked higher by 30.91% to $39.60 today. The technology company rallied sharply after announcing last night that it would sell its cryogenics business for $675 million.