Intel shares closed at USD 100.95, rising 3.32%, after opening at 101.33 and trading between 100.12 and 103.16 during the session.
A massive $7.85 million long straddle and a $4.76 million deep in-the-money put purchase dominated the options market, signaling overwhelmingly bearish institutional sentiment. The day’s activity was profoundly skewed to the downside, with total bearish flow reaching $34.58 million compared to $16.08 million in bullish flow, creating a net bearish difference of $18.50 million.
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Options Indicators
INTC’s implied volatility is 69.75%, while its IV percentile stands at 51.79%, which places current volatility conditions in a neutral range rather than an extreme one. In other words, although the absolute IV level is fairly high, it is still close to the middle of its own historical range, suggesting options are not especially cheap or especially expensive at the moment. With an IV/HV ratio of 0.86, implied volatility is also running below historical volatility, indicating current option premiums are not being stretched relative to the stock’s realized movement. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.55.
Large Trades
A net-debit CALL+PUT combination worth $7.85 million stood out as one of the day’s largest trades, consisting of long 110.0 puts and long 110.0 calls expiring January 15, 2027. With INTC referenced at $100.95, the put leg was in the money while the call leg was out of the money, creating a long straddle-like volatility bet centered above the current stock price. Because this structure was established for a net debit of $7.85 million, it points to a buyer willing to pay substantial premium for large future movement rather than immediate premium collection, suggesting either a major volatility purchase or a hedged directional positioning that benefits from a pronounced move in either direction over the longer term.
A PUT buy worth $4.76 million was the other highlighted large trade, with 1,300 contracts bought at the 120.0 strike expiring June 17, 2027. Since the strike sat well above the $100.95 reference stock price, this put was in the money at entry, giving it meaningful intrinsic value and making it a more defensive, downside-oriented position than an out-of-the-money lottery-style hedge. The outright purchase of this in-the-money put signals a clearly bearish stance or a substantial hedge against further weakness, with the buyer paying a large premium to secure downside exposure deep into 2027. Overall sentiment across all large trades was bearish, with $16.08 million in bullish flow versus $34.58 million in bearish flow, leaving a net bearish difference of $18.50 million. The directional takeaway is clearly negative: even though there were some bullish positions and volatility-oriented structures, the dominant capital concentration was in put buying, bearish spreads, and premium-selling call structures that collectively reflect caution and expectations for limited upside or further downside in INTC.
Strategy Reference
For traders seeking to sell premium without a strong directional view, selling an out-of-the-money put credit spread below the recent low, such as a short 95/90 put spread, may offer a lower assignment probability given the elevated implied volatility, while keeping margin requirements defined and controlled.
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