Netflix has been on a tear this year, and traders are expecting a big move when the company reports quarterly earnings Monday after the market close.
The options market is implying about a 7.5 percent move in either direction for the streaming giant, which is more than the average 5.5 percent move over the past four quarters, but less than the long-term average move of about 13 percent.
Shares of Netflix have surged nearly 15 percent in 2018 alone and are sitting about 3 percent from their all-time highs.
Looking at a chart of Netflix, Dan Nathan, co-founder and editor of RiskReversal.com, explained Thursday on CNBC’s “Options Action,” that “you see this thing riddled with massive gaps, and when it makes new highs, it oftentimes does that on earnings events.”
However, for those looking to use options to play Netflix, Nathan warned that “playing this thing with options is pretty expensive unless you’re looking for put protection on a long [position] that you already have big gains on over the last year.”
Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting Netflix to report earnings of $1.26 per share on $11.68 billion in revenue.
Netflix could see a huge move on earnings next week