Wall Street oscillated on Wednesday, as investors juggled spiking crude prices, the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision. The three major U.S. stock indexes gyrated after the Fed's policy statement revealed the decision to hold rates steady was its most divided since 1992, along with uncertainties concerning rising energy prices due to turmoil in the Middle East.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 51,746,238 contracts was traded, of which 58% were call options.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: NVDA, TSLA, INTC, AMZN, SOFI, AAPL, MSFT, HOOD, AMD, VIX
Source: Tiger Trade App
Intel stock closed at $94.75, rising 12.10% on the day. Options trading in Intel has been notably active in recent sessions, with signs of sizable institutional positioning. On one hand, traders are taking advantage of implied volatility (IV) near historical highs to construct complex short-volatility strategies aimed at harvesting premium income. On the other hand, large flows have emerged in long-dated, deep out-of-the-money call options, reflecting bets on the stock’s longer-term upside potential.
A notable transaction involved the Intel Dec. 18, 2026 $110 call option, where 1,750 contracts were purchased for a total premium of $2.94 million.
Despite elevated implied volatility and correspondingly expensive option pricing, the willingness to accumulate long-dated (nearly two-year tenor) deep out-of-the-money calls points to a strong bullish conviction on Intel’s long-term trajectory. The buyer appears prepared to pay a significant premium to gain exposure to a potential substantial upside move.
The position has a breakeven level of $126.79 at expiry, meaning the stock would need to exceed this level for the trade to become profitable.
Overall, the transaction reflects a clearly bullish bias and represents a straightforward directional bet on Intel’s long-term appreciation.
Unusual Options Activity
SanDisk last closed at $1,064.21. Options expiring on May 1, 2026—one day from April 30—are pricing in an implied volatility of 198.71%.
SanDisk is set to report its latest quarterly results after the U.S. market close on April 30, 2026, with investors closely watching performance across its edge, consumer and data center segments. Consensus estimates project quarterly revenue of $4.684 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 188.58%, while adjusted earnings per share are expected to reach $14.43, up 3,844.3% from a year earlier.
The implied move for the earnings week is approximately ±10.40%. Based on options pricing, this suggests a roughly 68% probability (within one standard deviation) that SNDK shares will rise or fall by about 10.40% between the earnings release and the May 1 expiry. The elevated implied volatility underscores strong market expectations for significant post-earnings price swings.
According to options market pricing, the stock’s anticipated trading range for the week of the earnings release is approximately between $953.52 and $1,174.90.
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