Calls spike 7-fold in $CONE

Bullish options traders have scored a home run with large positions placed repeatedly on CyrusOne (CONE) ahead of strong quarterly results last month.

Investitute’s tracking systems detected heavy buying in September $65 calls twice in recent weeks as part of vertical spreads against the September $70s. It was the first time that CONE options have been listed on our Activity Log:

–On July 26, 9,645 September $65 calls were bought for $0.45 above open interest of 302 contracts with shares at $55.86.
–On July 31, 9,953 September $65 calls were purchased for $0.35 with shares at $55.66 before the company reported earnings that afternoon.

Investitute co-founder Pete Najarian cited the second of those trades at the time it was made, on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded for as much as $2.85 today, more than 7 times their average purchase price. The stock rose 17.84% in the same time period, underscoring how options can far outperform moves in their underlying shares on a relative basis.

CONE is up 0.06% to $65.47 this afternoon. The data-center real-estate investment trust has rallied hard since topping earnings and revenue expectations after the market closed on July 31.