Market Overview
Wall Street ended higher on Friday (Sept 25), lifted by Microsoft and other AI-related technology stocks, while high oil prices and a recent surge in US Treasury yields kept investors on edge.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 63,018,177 contracts was traded, of which 60% were call options.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: Tesla Motors, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms, Micron Technology, Intel, Amazon.com, Strategy, SpaceX
Microsoft ended the session at $516.17, up 3.66%. Options flow showed unusually aggressive upside positioning, led by a $3.93 million in-the-money call purchase and a $2.20 million out-of-the-money call buy. Both trades were outright long calls rather than spreads or hedges, and the broader block tape leaned heavily bullish. Institutional-sized traders paid substantial premium for long-dated upside exposure across multiple strikes, signaling confidence that Microsoft can extend gains well beyond current levels over a longer horizon.
Large Trades
A call purchase worth $3.93 million was the largest displayed trade, with 1,154 contracts of the November 20, 2026 $500 call bought while the stock reference price stood at $516.17. This was an in-the-money long call, giving the buyer immediate intrinsic exposure along with additional upside participation through expiration. Strategically, this is a clearly bullish directional trade, suggesting the participant was willing to pay substantial premium for sustained upside exposure and potentially signaling confidence that MSFT can extend gains well beyond current levels over a longer-dated horizon.
A call purchase worth $2.20 million was the second highlighted trade, consisting of 2,000 contracts of the December 18, 2026 $575 call bought. With the strike above the $516.17 reference price, this was an out-of-the-money long call, making it a higher-convexity bullish position that requires further upside to become intrinsically valuable. The trade points to an investor positioning for a meaningful advance over time, using relatively farther-upside strikes to express a directional bullish view while keeping risk limited to the premium paid.
Overall, the large-trade flow in MSFT was decisively bullish. The biggest orders were both outright call buys, and the broader block activity also leaned heavily toward upside participation rather than defensive hedging, indicating that institutional-sized traders were more focused on capturing future appreciation than protecting against downside. Taken together, the figures suggest constructive market sentiment and a positive directional bias for MSFT, with traders showing willingness to commit capital to upside exposure across multiple expirations.
Unusual Options Activity
Intel closed at $123.00, a 3.45% decline. Large options trades showed a notable split. The biggest single transaction was a $7.02 million long-dated put sale, suggesting accumulation intent. Offsetting that was a net-credit synthetic put spread with a clearly bearish tilt. Volatility pricing sits in neutral territory, so the tape reflected positioning more than a chase for cheap premium.
Large Trades
A synthetic put structure with a net credit of $888 thousand was one of the standout large trades, combining the sale of 2,000 contracts of the October 16, 2026 $130.0 call and the purchase of 4,000 contracts of the October 16, 2026 $100.0 put. With INTC referenced at $123.0, the short $130.0 call was out of the money and the long $100.0 put was also out of the money, creating a bearish synthetic position that benefits from downside in the stock while collecting premium upfront. The use of a net credit suggests the trader was positioning for weakness or at least capping upside expectations over the longer horizon, expressing a clearly defensive-to-bearish directional view.
A put sale worth $7.02 million was the single largest displayed trade, with 2,200 contracts sold on the December 15, 2028 $110.0 put. Since the $110.0 strike sits below the $123.0 reference price, the option was out of the money at execution, making this a bullish or yield-enhancing stance that profits if INTC stays above the strike and potentially reflects willingness to accumulate shares at a lower effective entry point.
Overall, the large-trade flow leans bullish: although the displayed synthetic put shows meaningful bearish positioning, the biggest capital commitment was the sizable sale of long-dated out-of-the-money puts, and the broader block activity also shows bullish flow outweighing bearish flow. Taken together, the tape suggests institutional sentiment is moderately constructive on INTC, with some hedging or downside expression present but not enough to override the dominant accumulation-oriented posture.
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