Amazon.com closed at $278.09, up 1.32%.
A massive $7.42 million call sale at the $410 strike signals a long-term cap on upside, while a $2.06 million near-the-money call sale at $280 reinforces bearish conviction. The options flow was overwhelmingly bearish, with no bullish premium recorded against $9.88 million in bearish trades, painting a picture of traders actively selling rallies and collecting premium rather than chasing a breakout.
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Options Indicators
AMZN’s implied volatility is 32.32%, and with an IV percentile of 29.08%, current option volatility sits on the low side of its recent range, suggesting options are relatively cheaply priced rather than expensive. The IV/HV ratio of 0.53 further indicates implied volatility is running below historical realized volatility, reinforcing the view that current premiums are not stretched. The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.38.
Large Trades
A call sale worth $7.42 million was the largest displayed trade, with 2,000 contracts sold at the 410.0 strike expiring on 2028-12-15. With AMZN referenced at $278.09, this call was clearly out-of-the-money, making it a bearish to neutral income-style position that suggests the trader was willing to cap upside well above the current stock price while collecting premium. The long-dated tenor also stands out, indicating a view that AMZN is unlikely to rally beyond 410.0 over this extended horizon, or at least that implied volatility at that strike offered attractive premium for a seller.
A call sale worth $2.06 million was the other displayed large trade, with 1,500 contracts sold at the 280.0 strike expiring on 2026-10-16. This strike sat only slightly above the $278.09 reference price, so although still out-of-the-money, it was much closer to spot and therefore carried a more immediate directional message. Selling this near-the-money upside exposure points to a bearish or at least restrained-upside outlook, with the trader expressing the view that AMZN may struggle to sustain a move above 280.0 by that expiration while monetizing option premium.
Overall sentiment in AMZN large trades was decisively bearish, with bullish flow at $0.00 million versus bearish flow at $9.88 million, leaving a net difference of $9.88 million to the bearish side. The directional judgment is clearly bearish: the flow was dominated by sizable call selling, including both a very large long-dated upside sale and another closer-to-spot call sale, while the remaining large trade in the full dataset was also bearish. Taken together, the large-trade profile points to traders leaning against upside and favoring premium collection or capped-rally positioning rather than positioning for a sustained bullish breakout.
Strategy Reference
For a bearish income approach with a low assignment probability, a seller might consider the $410 strike call expiring 2028-12-15, mirroring the largest trade, while those seeking to avoid large margin requirements could use a bear call spread, for example selling the $280 call and buying a higher strike call to define risk.
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