NVIDIA Corporation closed at USD 195.04, up 2.65%.
The session’s block trades painted a cautious picture, dominated by a massive $26.33 million double short put spread collecting premium and a directional $7.30 million long put combination. These institutional moves, alongside a clearly bearish skew in overall premium flow, suggest large players are positioning for potential weakness or limited upside, using elevated options premium to their advantage while hedging against a downside break.
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Options Indicators
NVDA’s implied volatility is 45.61%, and with an IV percentile of 61.75%, current volatility sits in a neutral historical range rather than an extreme high or low. Combined with an IV/HV ratio of 1.13, the options market is pricing implied volatility modestly above realized volatility, suggesting premiums are slightly rich but not broadly expensive. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.82.
Large Trades
A net-credit same-direction double short put structure worth $26.33 million was the largest displayed trade, involving the sale of 9,540 contracts of the July 31, 2026 $210.00 put and 9,024 contracts of the July 31, 2026 $207.50 put, both struck above the $195.04 reference stock price and therefore in the money. Because both legs were sold, the strategy collected premium rather than paid it, producing a net premium received of $26.33 million. This type of short-put combination is primarily an income-generation and range-bound positioning trade: it expresses the view that NVDA can remain resilient enough over time for the seller to monetize elevated put premium, while also accepting downside assignment risk if the stock weakens further. The fact that both strikes are in the money makes the structure more aggressive than an out-of-the-money premium sale and leaves the position leaning neutral to mildly bearish in tone despite its premium-harvesting objective.
A directional double long put combination worth $7.30 million was the other highlighted trade, consisting of purchases of 4,000 contracts of the September 4, 2026 $195.00 put and 4,000 contracts of the August 21, 2026 $195.00 put, with both strikes essentially at but fractionally below the $195.04 stock reference and classified here as out of the money. Since both legs were bought, the trader paid premium on each leg, resulting in a net premium paid of negative $7.30 million. This is a downside-focused volatility expression rather than an income trade: owning the same strike across two nearby expirations suggests a trader seeking directional bearish exposure with sensitivity to a potentially sharp move lower over the coming weeks, while also spreading timing risk across maturities. The structure points to an expectation that NVDA could break lower with enough magnitude to make outright put ownership attractive.
Overall, the large-trade flow skews clearly bearish for NVDA. The full sentiment summary shows bearish premium flow decisively outweighing bullish activity, and the character of that flow reinforces the negative read: there was meaningful demand for downside puts, repeated call overwriting and bear-call structures, and only limited bullish participation by comparison. Even the biggest premium-selling trade was only neutral to mildly bearish rather than outright constructive, while the other featured trade was a direct long-put wager on downside movement. Taken together, the large orders suggest institutions are positioned for weakness or, at best, constrained upside with elevated caution toward downside risk.
Strategy Reference
For a lower assignment probability than the featured in-the-money sales, a trader could consider selling the OTM $180.00 put in a nearer expiration to collect premium above the current support zone, or deploy a bear put spread to define risk on a directional breakdown without the full cost of outright puts.
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