What is the sentiment and trading volume around the release, and are there any unusual options activity?
Answer Overview
The pressârelease you quoted tells us that HackâŻ&âŻCo. (NASDAQ:âŻHCKT) announced Q2âŻ2025 results that âwere above the midârange of its revenue and adjustedâEPS guidance.â That language is generally positive (i.e., âbeatâorâmeetâ guidance) and, in most cases, translates into a bullishâleaning sentiment among investors at the moment of the release.
However, the release itself does not contain any marketâdata detailsâsuch as the actual price reaction, tradingâvolume numbers, or optionsâtrade statistics. To answer the three parts of your questionâsentiment, trading volume, and unusual options activityâyou will need to pull realâtime market information from a data source (e.g., a brokerage platform, Bloomberg, Reuters, or a free service such as YahooâŻFinance or MarketWatch). Below is a stepâbyâstep guide on how to obtain and interpret those metrics, together with a brief âwhat you might expectâ based on the content of the release.
1. Sentiment Around the Release
How to Measure It
Method | What to Look For | Typical Tools |
---|---|---|
Price reaction | Compare the opening price (or preârelease price) to the price after the news (e.g., 5âmin, 15âmin, 1âhour, and endâofâday). A rise â bullish, a fall â bearish. | Realâtime charting platforms (Thinkorswim, TradingView, Bloomberg). |
Socialâmedia / newsâfeed sentiment | Scan Twitter, StockTwits, Reddit (r/investing, r/stocks) for keywords âHackett Groupâ, âHCKTâ, âbeatâ, âmissâ. Sentimentâanalysis APIs (e.g., Bloomberg Sentiment, Refinitiv) can give a numeric score. | Sentimentâanalysis tools, Google Trends, MarketWatch âLive Market Talkâ. |
Analyst commentary | Look for any upgrades/downgrades or âBuy/Hold/Sellâ changes issued within a few hours of the release. | FactSet, Thomson Reuters IHS, Bloomberg Terminal. |
What the Release Suggests
- Positive language (âoperating results that were aboveâŠâ) â likely upâbeat sentiment.
- No mention of a miss or surprise â the market typically reacts favorably unless the âmidârangeâ guidance was already low expectations.
Bottomâline: Expect a bullish tilt in sentiment, but you still need to confirm with the actual price move and socialâmedia chatter.
2. Trading Volume Around the Release
How to Retrieve the Data
- Intraday volume bars â Pull the 1âminute or 5âminute volume series for the day of the release (2025â08â05).
- Compare to âaverage daily volumeâ (ADV) â Most platforms display a 30âday average volume; compute the ratio:
[
\text{Volume Spike Ratio} = \frac{\text{Volume on release day}}{\text{30âday ADV}}
]
- Look for âhighâvolumeâ flags â Bloomberg/Reuters often highlight a âhighâvolumeâ day automatically.
What to Expect
- Earnings beats often generate a moderateâtoâhigh volume spike (1.5Ăâ3Ă ADV) as traders and algorithms trade on the news.
- If the guidance range was already wellâknown and the beat was modest, the spike may be smaller (â1.2Ăâ1.5Ă ADV).
Bottomâline: Check the 2025â08â05 volume bar; a ratio >âŻ1.5 would be considered a noticeable increase, confirming active market participation.
3. Unusual Options Activity
What to Look For
Metric | How to Compute | Typical âunusualâ thresholds |
---|---|---|
Options volume vs. openâinterest | Volume / OpenInterest . A ratio >âŻ0.5 on the same day is often flagged as âhigh activityâ. |
>âŻ0.5 (or >âŻ50âŻ% of OI) |
Large trades (block trades) | Identify singleâtrade sizes >âŻ10âŻk contracts or >âŻ5âŻ% of daily volume. | Any single trade >âŻ5âŻ% of daily volume is âlargeâ. |
Impliedâvolatility (IV) moves | Compare IV at the time of the release to the 30âday IV average. A jump >âŻ10âŻ% can indicate a âvolatility shockâ. | IV change >âŻ10âŻ% |
Put/Call ratio | Total puts / total calls . A sudden swing (e.g., from 0.8 to >âŻ1.2) suggests a shift in directional bias. |
Ratio >âŻ1.0 (more puts) after a beat may still be âneutralâ if the market expects a pullâback. |
How to Pull the Data
- Optionâchain screen on a brokerage or data terminal for the expiration dates nearest to AugâŻ5âŻ2025 (e.g., AugâŻ2025, SepâŻ2025).
- Filter for the mostâactive strikes (usually atâtheâmoney or 5â10âŻ% outâofâtheâmoney).
- Sort by âVolumeâ and âChange from prior dayâ.
- Check âUnusual Options Activityâ alerts (many platforms have a builtâin alert that flags spikes automatically).
Anticipated Patterns (Based on the Release)
- Calls may dominate if investors are bullish after the beat.
- Higherâstrike call buying (e.g., 10â15âŻ% OTM) is common when traders expect the stock to rally further.
- If the beat was modest, you might see a balanced mix of calls and puts, with a slight tilt toward calls.
- Impliedâvolatility often compresses after an earnings beat (IV drops) because the âevent riskâ is resolved; however, a sharp price move can temporarily inflate IV on the nextâday expiration.
Bottomâline: Run the âhighâvolumeâ and âlargeâtradeâ filters for HCKT options on 2025â08â05. Any contractâsize trade >âŻ5âŻ% of daily volume, a volume/OI ratio >âŻ0.5, or a >âŻ10âŻ% IV jump would qualify as âunusualâ.
4. Putting It All Together â A Sample Checklist
Item | How to Verify | What to Note |
---|---|---|
Sentiment | Price change (intraday), socialâmedia sentiment, analyst upgrades/downgrades. | Look for a positive price move and upâbeat chatter. |
Trading Volume | Daily volume vs. 30âday ADV; volumeâspike ratio. | Ratio >âŻ1.5 = clear volume spike. |
Options Activity | Volume/OI, largeâtrade size, IV change, put/call ratio. | Flag any highâvolume call skew, large block trades, or IV compression/expansion. |
5. Recommended Data Sources (Free & Paid)
Source | What It Gives You | Typical Access |
---|---|---|
YahooâŻFinance / MarketWatch | Endâofâday price, daily volume, basic options chain (topâ10 strikes). | Free web. |
NASDAQ Trader (Levelâ2) | Realâtime trade and quote (TAQ) data, volume histograms. | Free with registration. |
Barchart.com â âOptions Activityâ | Realâtime options volume, largeâtrade alerts. | Free tier (limited). |
Bloomberg Terminal | Fullâfeatured sentiment, volume spikes, âUnusual Options Activityâ alerts, analyst notes. | Paid (institutional). |
Thinkorswim (TDâŻAmeritrade) | Intraday charts, options chain, âTradeâTheâNewsâ alerts. | Free with a brokerage account. |
6. Quick âWhatâIfâ Example (Illustrative Only)
Metric | Hypothetical Value | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
Price change (first 30âŻmin) | +3.2âŻ% | Strong bullish reaction. |
Volume spike ratio | 2.1Ă ADV | Significantly higher than usualâactive trading. |
Options volume/OI (ATM call) | 0.62 | Elevated call activity, likely âunusualâ. |
Largest single options trade | 12,000 contracts (call) | Block trade, >âŻ5âŻ% of daily volume â notable. |
IV change (nextâday exp.) | â12âŻ% | Volatility compression after earnings resolved. |
Put/Call ratio | 0.78 (calls > puts) | Net bullish bias. |
Again, the numbers above are *illustrative** only. You will need to pull the actual data for HCKT on 2025â08â05 to confirm.*
Final Takeaway
- Sentiment: The language of the release points to a positive (bullish) sentiment. Verify with price action and socialâmedia chatter.
- Trading volume: Expect a moderateâtoâhigh volume spike; confirm by comparing the dayâs volume to the 30âday average.
- Unusual options activity: Look for elevated call volume, largeâtrade blocks, and IV compression. Any of the thresholds listed (volume/OIâŻ>âŻ0.5, large tradeâŻ>âŻ5âŻ% of daily volume, IV moveâŻ>âŻ10âŻ%) would flag âunusualâ activity.
Next steps: Pull the realâtime market data for HCKT on 2025â08â05 using one of the platforms above, run the checks outlined, and youâll have a concrete answer to the three parts of your question.