Bulls are viewing profits in $DIS

Option traders seeking short term upside in Walt Disney certainly got it, in calls that expired this afternoon.

On Apr. 24, Investitute’s market scanners identified the purchase of 5,300 Weekly $135 calls expiring today, 26April, from $0.21 to $0.98 with shares at $134.79. These were clearly new positions, as open interest in the contract was only 4,523 before that session began.

Those calls sold for $4.95 this afternoon, more than 8 times their average purchase price. The stock rose 3.89% at the same time, 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.

DIS was up 1.94% to close at $139.92 today. The media and entertainment empire has rallied tremendously in the past couple of weeks, up 20% since its investor day on Apr. 11.