Monster profits in $MNST

Bullish option traders more than quadrupled their money in Monster Beverage today.

On Jan. 7, Investitute’s proprietary programs showed that 1,800 March $50 calls were bought at the same time for $3 to $3.30 with shares at $49.93. Volume was well above the strike’s previous open interest of 292 contracts, indicating that this was fresh buying.

Those calls were marked at $14.85 at today’s closing bell, at least 4.5 times their underlying shares. The stock rallied 29.66% in the same time period, a large move but nowhere near that of its options on a relative basis.

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.

MNST was up 1.43% to $64.74 today. The energy-drink retailer blew past quarterly estimates after the market closed on Feb. 27.