Options Market Statistics: Intel Jumps 7.9% After Hours Following Foundry Split and Amazon Deal; Options Pop

$Intel(INTC)$   shares jumped 6.36% Monday to close at $20.91, with option volume of 0.81 million, and calls accounted for 80.4% of the volume. The $21 calls expiring September 20 lead the flow with the highest volume. Shares further surged approximately 8% in after-hours trading on Monday following a series of positive developments. 

The company is reportedly set to qualify for up to $3 billion in federal funding aimed at producing semiconductors for U.S. military applications. This influx of potential funding coincided with Intel's announcement that it will spin off its struggling foundry business into a separate entity, which aims to enhance its appeal to potential customers and attract outside investment. CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed in an open letter to employees that this restructuring will involve creating an independent subsidiary with its own board of directors. This move is expected to alleviate concerns from potential clients regarding intellectual property and competition, as the foundry will operate separately from Intel's core business.

Additionally, Intel announced a significant multiyear agreement with $Amazon.com(AMZN)$   Web Services (AWS) to co-develop custom chip designs. This partnership includes a multi-billion-dollar framework for providing products and wafers to AWS, marking a substantial expansion of their collaboration. Intel is set to manufacture an AI fabric chip for AWS using its latest 18A manufacturing process, as well as a custom Xeon 6 server chip.

$Apple(AAPL)$   shares dropped 2.78% Monday to close at $216.32, with option volume of 1.09 million, and calls accounted for 58.9% of the volume. The $220 calls expiring September 20 were traded most actively.

TF International securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicated that demand for the new iPhone 16 model fell short of expectations during its launch weekend. Kuo's research note revealed that pre-order sales for the iPhone 16 reached approximately 37 million units, marking a nearly 13% decline compared to the first-weekend sales of the iPhone 15 series, with the iPhone 16 Pro series experiencing the most significant drop. Kuo attributed the lackluster demand to the absence of new artificial intelligence features in the iPhone 16 Pro, which Apple plans to roll out at a later date. Additionally, he noted that fierce competition in the Chinese market continues to exert pressure on iPhone sales.

$SoFi Technologies Inc.(SOFI)$   shares rose 4.13% Monday to close at $8.06, with option volume of 0.30 million, and calls accounted for 78.3% of the volume. The $8 calls expiring September 20 lead the flow with the highest volume.

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