Bulls triple their money in $JBL

It took less than a week for option traders to post exponential profits in Jabil.

On March 13, Investitute’s tracking systems detected the purchase of 3,000 March $30 calls for $0.43 as part of a bullish spread with shares at $28.28. This was clearly a new position, as open interest in the strike was only 248 contracts before the trade occurred. Investitute co-founder Pete Najarian cited the unusual activity at that time on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

Those calls traded up to $1.58 this afternoon, more than 3.5 times their purchase price. The stock rose 11.6% 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.

JBL jumped 10.07% to $31.36 today. The chip maker topped estimates on the top and bottom lines after the market closed yesterday.