Options traders are now treating Meta (META.US) as the breakout star of the consumer artificial intelligence sector. According to data from Cboe LiveVol and SpotGamma, Meta's options volume on Monday hit roughly 4.5 times the average level seen over the past 30 days, with total option premiums traded near $3.9 billion. Call options purchased outnumbered puts by a ratio of more than two to one, and seven of the ten largest trades were either bullish or neutral in their stance.
Brent Kochuba, founder of options analytics platform SpotGamma, noted that the scale of options inflows is massive and appears to be driven by the AI excitement surrounding Muse. The data shows Meta surged 12% on Monday, climbing to within just 7% of the all-time high set in August 2025, extending gains that have now reached 21% since the company first unveiled details about its personal AI agent.
Muse, officially launched earlier this month, is positioned as a personal AI agent capable of executing multi-step tasks, connecting to services like email, calendars, payments, dining, and shopping. Since its debut, Muse has quickly captured attention, overtaking ChatGPT as the most popular free app on Apple's iOS platform in the United States. According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, after Muse launched on September 8, the tool amassed 730,000 downloads within roughly five days and climbed to the top of the app store rankings.
The most actively traded options contracts on Monday were zero-days-to-expiry (0DTE) options, with strike prices that have now moved into in-the-money territory, including in-the-money call options with strike prices ranging from $720 to $745. Outside of that, options with strike prices of $775 and $800 expiring in mid-October also saw heavy trading volume. SpotGamma data indicates that more than $1.3 billion of the call premium traded was likely initiated by active call buyers, while approximately $1.1 billion was tied to sell-side activity, suggesting the overall market leans bullish while also hedging against upside risk.
In fact, on a dollar-denominated basis, the largest trader of the day appeared to build a net short position of roughly $20 million across multiple spread trades. One core trade involved selling a one-by-two call spread with strike prices of $710/$765 expiring on October 16. That position would profit if Meta shares fall below $740.
Notably, Meta's most important annual product showcase, Meta Connect 2026, is scheduled for September 23-24 local time (September 24-25 Beijing time). As Meta has expanded Connect in recent years from a virtual-reality-centric event into a broader platform covering AI, augmented reality, smart glasses, and the metaverse, this year's conference is expected to showcase its latest hardware products and AI strategy progress. Based on currently disclosed information, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will deliver a keynote address at 7 AM Beijing time on September 24, followed by a series of developer-focused events the next day. Market attention this year centers on next-generation smart glasses, a lightweight mixed-reality device codenamed "Phoenix," and how the recently emphasized personal AI agent Muse will further integrate into the wearable device ecosystem.
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