Option Focus | SK hynix’s $6.19 Million Short Strangle Sells $170 Calls and $150 Puts, While $2.62 Million OTM Call Sale Reinforces Bearish-to-Neutral Stance

Option Witch09-04 07:00

SK hynix closed at USD 163.68, down 0.79 percent.

Unusual options activity in SK hynix was dominated by two premium-selling trades with a combined net credit of approximately $8.81 million. The largest was a $6.19 million short strangle that sold both the $170.00 calls and $150.00 puts expiring in March 2027. A second $2.62 million trade sold out-of-the-money $170.00 calls expiring in December 2026, reinforcing a bearish-to-neutral posture that caps upside near $170.00 while monetizing time decay.

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Options Indicators

SKHY’s implied volatility is 60.58%, while its IV percentile is just 2.63%, which indicates that although the absolute IV level may look substantial, it sits near the low end of its own historical range. In that context, current option pricing appears cheap rather than stretched, and the IV/HV ratio of 0.91 suggests implied volatility is slightly below realized volatility, reinforcing the view that options are being priced on the inexpensive side.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.02.

Large Trades

A $6.19 million net-credit short strangle was the largest featured trade, consisting of the sale of 1,300 March 19, 2027 $170.00 calls and the sale of 1,300 March 19, 2027 $150.00 puts, both out of the money. Because the structure includes a Sell Call and a Sell Put, this is best read as a volatility-selling premium-collection strategy rather than a synthetic position. Using the provided figure, the trade size is a $6.19 million net credit, which indicates the trader is likely expressing a view that SKHY will remain within a broad range into expiration, with limited upside through $170.00 and limited downside through $150.00, while monetizing time decay.

A $2.62 million single-leg call sale was the second major trade, with 1,500 December 18, 2026 $170.00 calls sold out of the money. With the stock reference price at $163.68, the strike sits above spot, so the seller is capping upside beyond that level and taking in premium in exchange for a bearish-to-neutral stance. Overall, the large-trade flow points to a bearish bias: the biggest activity was concentrated in premium-selling structures with upside capped at $170.00 and downside risk also being sold, while the standalone call sale reinforces the view that traders are not positioning for a strong upside breakout and instead appear to expect contained price action with a soft negative lean.

Strategy Reference

For a low assignment probability on the call side, a seller could consider the December 18, 2026 $185.00 or $190.00 strike as a short call; alternatively, to avoid the margin requirements of a naked short strangle, a bear call spread such as selling the $170.00 call and buying the $180.00 call could express a similar capped-upside view with a defined risk profile.

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