William Blair analyst Jason Ader maintained an Outperform rating on NetApp following its "solid" Q1 results. In a research note to investors, Ader notes that Q2 guidance was $5M below consensus on revenue and "only" in line on EPS, pressuring the stock after-hours on Wednesday, and that ELA accounted for all of the upside in the quarter, and says that while some investors may look "skeptically" on these ELAs, he views the transactions as "highly strategic" footprint wins. Looking ahead, Ader expects product sales growth to continue at a healthy clip.

Bearish flow noted in NetApp with 1,299 puts trading, or 2x expected. Most active are 4/26 weekly 98 puts and 4/26 weekly 97 puts, with total volume in those strikes near 830 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 2.39, while ATM IV is up over 1 point on the day. Earnings are expected on May 30th.