Bears Pile on AT&T Stock After Hacking Incident

Hackers illegally downloaded data from 109 million customers

AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) announced hackers illegally downloaded data from 109 million customers containing call and text records from 2022, but noted the content of messages and sensitive personal information such as social security numbers were not compromised. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating this incident, and arrested at least one person so far.

Shares are down 1.1% to trade at $18.66 at last check, but the 20-day moving average is ready to contain any additional losses. The equity just hit a July 1, 52-week high of $19.32, and still sports an 11% year-to-date lead.

Options bears are chiming in, with 17,000 puts traded so far today, which is double the intraday average volume. The most popular contract is the weekly 7/12 18.50-strike put, where positions are being opened. This means traders expect more headwinds for AT&T stock by the close.

Short-term options traders are pessimistic toward T. This is per the security’s Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) that ranks in the 80th percentile readings from the past year. It’s also worth noting shares boasts attractively priced premiums, as their Schaeffer’s Volatility Indexes (SVI) of 16% rank in the 6th percentile of annual readings.  

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