$UBER call prices surge sixfold

It took less than a week for bullish options traders to post exponential gains in Uber Technologies (UBER)

On June 3, Investitute’s market scanners showed that 4,000 Weekly $44 calls expiring tomorrow afternoon were purchased for $0.15 to $0.40 with shares at $41.70. This was clearly fresh buying, as open interest in the strike was only t of 1,245 contracts before the activity appeared.

Those calls traded for as much as $1.75 today, more than 6 times their average purchase price. The stock rose 9.47% in the same time frame, 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.

UBER reached a new high of $45.75 this morning but pulled back to $44.87 in late afternoon trading, down 0.29% on the session. The ride-sharing company rallied after receiving a slew of positive analyst upgrades this week.