Intel Corporation ended the session at $101.06, up 0.20% from the prior close. The day’s headline flow was a decisive $4.27 million bull call spread targeting the $160.00 strike by late 2026, revealing a strong long-term bullish conviction. Alongside this, a $3.28 million calendar-style put combination added a defensive layer, blending near-the-money protection with out-of-the-money put sales, collectively shaping a tape that leans firmly toward upside positioning while hedging downside tail risk.
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Options Indicators
INTC’s implied volatility is 83.50%, and with an IV percentile of 78.09%, current option pricing sits in the elevated range, indicating options are relatively expensive versus most of the past year’s readings. At the same time, the IV/HV ratio of 0.96 suggests implied volatility is roughly in line with, and slightly below, realized volatility, so while premiums are rich on a percentile basis, they are not dramatically overstated relative to recent actual movement. Overall, the market is assigning a high volatility regime to INTC, and option buyers are paying up for that exposure. The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.20.
Large Trades
A bullish call spread worth $4.27 million was the largest displayed trade, built by buying 1,250 Dec. 18, 2026 $100.00 calls that were in the money and selling 2,500 Dec. 18, 2026 $160.00 calls that were out of the money. As a bull call spread, this structure targets upside participation while capping gains above the short strike, making it a directional bullish strategy with defined upside limits and reduced cost versus an outright call purchase. Based on the preprocessed leg amounts, the trader paid $2.60 million for the long calls and received $1.67 million from the short calls, resulting in a net premium of -$0.93 million, or a net debit. That debit profile indicates the trader was willing to spend premium upfront for bullish exposure into late 2026, likely expressing confidence that INTC can rise meaningfully from the current $101.06 level, though not necessarily beyond the upper strike in a way that would justify uncapped upside exposure.
A three-leg calendar-style put combination worth $3.28 million was the second displayed trade, consisting of a purchase of 1,100 Nov. 20, 2026 $100.00 puts, the sale of 1,050 June 17, 2027 $65.00 puts, and the sale of 2,200 Nov. 20, 2026 $65.00 puts, with all three legs out of the money versus the current stock price. This is a cross-expiration put structure that appears designed to blend downside protection near the current price with premium collection at much lower strikes, suggesting a hedging-oriented or moderately bearish-to-neutral stance rather than an outright aggressive bearish bet. Using the provided trade amounts, the trader paid $1.77 million for the long $100.00 puts while taking in $0.89 million and $0.62 million from the two short $65.00 put legs, for a net premium of -$0.26 million, or a net debit. Overall, the full large-trade flow still leans bullish, with bullish premium exceeding bearish premium, and the tone of the tape suggests investors are positioning for upside or stability rather than a sharp breakdown: the top trade was a clearly bullish long-delta call spread, while even the sizable put structure was financed partly through lower-strike put sales that imply willingness to own or defend shares only at significantly lower levels.
Strategy Reference
For traders seeking a low-assignment probability setup, selling the out-of-the-money $65.00 put in the November 2026 cycle could align with the large-trade flow’s defensive posture, while those preferring a capital-efficient bullish stance might replicate the $100.00/$160.00 call spread to reduce upfront cost and define risk.
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