Palantir Technologies Inc. closed at USD 172.55, down 0.86%.
Palantir saw heavy bearish options activity into 2026, with total bearish flow reaching $4.65 million against just $0.70 million in bullish flow. The largest trades involved selling 180 calls while buying 165 and 170 puts, creating a net bearish difference of $3.95 million. Institutional positioning appears focused on capped upside and downside protection rather than chasing further gains.
>>>Click to claim your commission-free cards before trading!
Options Indicators
PLTR’s implied volatility is 49.53%, while its IV percentile stands at 8.37%, which indicates volatility is sitting on the low end of its recent range and options are currently priced relatively cheaply. At the same time, the IV/HV ratio of 0.45 suggests implied volatility is running below historical realized volatility, reinforcing the view that current option premiums are not demanding by recent standards. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.51.
Large Trades
A three-leg CALL+PUT combination with a net credit of $0.76 million was the largest displayed trade, built around selling 4,500 contracts of the 180.0 call expiring September 4, 2026 while buying two blocks of 1,800 contracts each of the 165.0 put with the same expiration. With the stock reference at 172.55, the short 180.0 call and long 165.0 puts were both out of the money at execution. As a package, this was executed for net premium collection, and the structure leans defensively bearish: the trader collected upfront credit while capping upside participation through the short call and adding downside protection or downside exposure through the long puts. That combination suggests a view that PLTR is unlikely to sustain a move above 180.0 and may face downside risk into the September 2026 expiry.
A synthetic short position with a net credit of $0.15 million was the second displayed trade, consisting of selling 1,800 contracts of the 180.0 call and buying 1,080 contracts of the 170.0 put, both expiring August 28, 2026. With PLTR at 172.55, both strikes were out of the money when traded. This is a classic bearish directional structure: the short call monetizes expectations that upside will remain limited, while the long put creates downside participation if the stock weakens. The fact that the position was established for a net credit reinforces the trader’s willingness to express a downside view while being paid premium upfront.
Overall sentiment across all large trades was clearly bearish, with total bullish flow of $0.70 million versus bearish flow of $4.65 million, leaving a net bearish difference of $3.95 million. The directional conclusion is decisively negative, as the largest highlighted trades were both credit-based structures built around short upside exposure and long downside optionality, while the broader tape also showed additional bearish and neutral-to-bearish premium-selling activity. Taken together, the large-trade profile suggests institutions were primarily positioning for capped upside, range-bound behavior below key higher strikes, or outright downside risk in PLTR rather than chasing further upside.
Strategy Reference
For a low assignment probability on the short side, a seller could consider the 200 call in September 2026, which sits well above the institutional 180 ceiling and offers a wider cushion above current price; alternatively, a bear put spread using the 170/165 strikes would express the same downside view with limited margin and defined risk.
Comments