Call buyers run up the score in $EA

Bullish option traders tripled their money today as Electronic Arts surged with strong sales.

On Nov. 15, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 3,000 February $115 calls bought for $5.10 to $5.45 with shares at $111.51, the second consecutive session of heavy buying in that strike. Investitute co-founder Jon Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded for $16.15 today, more than 3 times their original purchase price. The stock rose 17.2% in the same time period, illustrating the kind of leverage that can be achieved 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.

EA jumped 6.96% to $126.96 today. The game developer topped revenue expectations after the market closed yesterday.