GlobalFoundries Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GFS)

GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ:GFS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 12,944 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 78% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,259 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at GlobalFoundries

In other GlobalFoundries news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.22, for a total transaction of $232,880.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $865,556.74. The trade was a 21.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Samak L. Azar sold 335 shares of GlobalFoundries stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.36, for a total value of $25,915.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 13,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,017,206.64. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 19,610 shares of company stock valued at $1,184,660 over the last ninety days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GlobalFoundries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of GlobalFoundries by 8,275,141.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,813,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,147,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813,548 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of GlobalFoundries by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,340,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,571,000 after buying an additional 31,590 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in GlobalFoundries by 106.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 875,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,936,000 after purchasing an additional 450,722 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of GlobalFoundries by 322.8% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 715,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,803,000 after acquiring an additional 545,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in GlobalFoundries during the first quarter valued at about $21,110,000.

GlobalFoundries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GFS traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.38. 3,437,367 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,253,961. The company has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.78. GlobalFoundries has a twelve month low of $32.02 and a twelve month high of $92.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.30.

GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ:GFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. GlobalFoundries had a return on equity of 6.69% and a net margin of 10.36%.The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. GlobalFoundries has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.460-0.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that GlobalFoundries will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GlobalFoundries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 23rd. GlobalFoundries’s payout ratio is currently 37.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of GlobalFoundries in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $140.00 target price on GlobalFoundries in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on GlobalFoundries from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research cut GlobalFoundries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of GlobalFoundries in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.32.

About GlobalFoundries

GlobalFoundries Inc (NASDAQ:GFS) is a global semiconductor manufacturer that provides contract chip production and related services to technology companies. Unlike a fabless semiconductor company, GlobalFoundries operates its own fabrication facilities and manufactures chips designed by other companies across a range of end markets.

The company specializes in differentiated semiconductor technologies, including radio-frequency and connectivity solutions, embedded memory, power management, silicon photonics, gallium nitride and other specialty processes.