Calls double overnight in $HPE

It took just 24 hours for bullish traders to turn substantial profits in Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Just yesterday, Investitute’s proprietary programs flagged the purchase of 2,900 April $17.50 calls for $0.20 to $0.28 with shares at $17.47. This was clearly fresh buying, as open interest in the strike was only 239 contracts before the activity appeared.

Those calls traded for $0.48 this afternoon, nearly 2.5 times their initial purchase price. The stock rose 2.2% 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.

HPE was up 1.08% to $17.75 today. The business-software company, which announces quarterly results on the afternoon of May 31, has rebounded recently with other “old tech” names.