Intel Corporation ended the trading session at $90.07, down 2.24%.
Large options trades in INTC showed a cautious, mildly bearish tilt. The standout was a $2.88 million net-credit short strangle using the 120.00 call and 75.00 put expiring January 15, 2027, reflecting a range-bound premium-collection view. Meanwhile, a $2.86 million purchase of 80.00 strike puts expiring February 19, 2027 added a downside hedge. Net bearish flow exceeded bullish flow by just $0.21 million, leaving the broader large-trade picture modestly negative rather than aggressively bearish.
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Options Indicators
INTC’s implied volatility stands at 63.58%, while its IV percentile is 28.29%, which suggests that despite the relatively high absolute IV level, current option pricing sits on the cheaper side of its own historical range and overall volatility is on the low side rather than elevated. With an IV/HV ratio of 0.87, implied volatility is also running below historical volatility, reinforcing the view that options are not richly priced at the moment. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.62.
Large Trades
A $2.88 million net-credit CALL+PUT combination was the largest highlighted trade, consisting of a short 120.00 call and a short 75.00 put expiring on January 15, 2027. With the stock reference at $90.07, both strikes were out of the money, making this effectively a short strangle established for a $2.88 million net credit. Strategically, this points to premium collection rather than an outright directional bet, expressing a view that INTC may remain within a broad range through that long-dated expiration while the trader harvests time value and volatility premium.
A PUT buy worth $2.86 million targeted the 80.00 strike expiring on February 19, 2027, with 2,700 contracts purchased. Since the strike sat below the $90.07 reference price, the position was out of the money at entry, but it was still a clearly bearish structure because the buyer paid significant premium for downside exposure into a longer-dated tenor. This trade suggests either a directional hedge against a future decline or a speculative bearish stance anticipating INTC could break below $80.00 over time. Overall, the bulk-order flow leaned slightly bearish, with $5.12 million in bullish activity versus $5.33 million in bearish activity, a net bearish gap of $0.21 million. The directional read is mildly negative rather than aggressively bearish: sentiment was shaped by meaningful downside put buying, while some of that pressure was offset by premium-selling and bullish call activity, leaving the broader large-trade picture cautious and modestly bearish on INTC.
Strategy Reference
For a low assignment probability short-put entry on INTC, a seller could look at the 75.00 strike in shorter-dated expirations, which aligns with the large short strangle’s lower boundary and sits well below current price; alternatively, a bear put spread such as buying the 85.00 put and selling the 75.00 put may express the mild downside view with defined risk and lower margin than a naked put.
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