$FEYE calls surge three-fold

It took just two sessions for bullish option traders to post substantial profits in FireEye (FEYE).

On July 24, Investitute’s market scanners found that 4,600 Weekly $15.50 calls expiring this afternoon were bought for $0.11 to $0.19 above open interest of 539 contracts with shares at $15.51. Investitute co-founder Pete Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded for as much as $0.51 this morning, more than 3 times their average purchase price. The stock rose 3.16% in the same time frame, showing how quickly options can far outpace gains in 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.

FEYE is up 1.3% to $15.98 in afternoon trading. The cybersecurity company is scheduled to report earnings after the market closes on July 30.