NVDA Options Turn Defensive While IREN Bets Accelerate After 11% Surge

Against the backdrop of a sharp selloff in Intel shares following its earnings release, price action within the compute and AI supply chain showed clear divergence. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$  , $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$  , $Micron Technology(MU)$   and $IREN Ltd(IREN)$   all posted gains on the day, with IREN surging more than 11%, suggesting institutions did not simply extrapolate Intel's earnings disappointment across the broader compute and AI complex.

In this environment of pronounced relative strength, the options market offered more forward-looking signals. Recent large, newly opened options trades indicate that institutional pricing has begun to diverge across compute-linked names: NVDA options positioning leans toward high-level risk management, while IREN options flows reflect trend-following bullish conviction in an accelerating phase.

NVIDIA: Trend Intact, Options Shift Toward Managing High-Level Pullback Risk

In NVDA, the options market recently saw a concentrated trade in March 2026 $185 puts, with roughly 3,000 contracts changing hands for approximately $2.75 million in premium. The contract posted a V/OI ratio of around 32, indicating the flow was dominated by new position building rather than adjustments to existing exposure. The trade was executed with the stock trading around $187–188, making the $185 put slightly in-the-money—consistent with institutional pullback protection and portfolio hedging, rather than a directional bet on a trend reversal.

From a fundamental perspective, NVDA's core investment thesis has not materially weakened. AI data-center demand remains resilient, and expectations around incremental progress in exporting high-end chips such as the H200 to China have renewed discussion around medium-term revenue potential. At the same time, regulatory and execution uncertainties persist, meaning those positives have yet to translate into fully visible revenue timing. With much of the optimism already reflected in the share price, institutions appear more inclined to manage volatility via options rather than add directional leverage at elevated levels.

Overall, NVDA's options pricing suggests a framework in which the trend is not being challenged, but risk control takes precedence at current levels. As a result, $185 has emerged as a key short-term reference level, rather than a signal of outright bearish positioning.

IREN: After a Sharp Rally, Options Flows Remain Trend-Following

By contrast, options flows in IREN have been notably more aggressive. Following a single-day surge of more than 11%, with shares trading near $58, the options market recorded two representative call combination trades, with aggregate V/OI close to 50, underscoring continued trend-aligned positioning.

One notable trade involved 10,000 contracts of July 2026 $80 calls, carrying approximately $9.8 million in premium and a delta near 0.46, reflecting meaningful directional exposure. This structure signals a high degree of confidence in trend continuation over the coming months. Meanwhile, a separate trade in May 2026 $110 call combinations, totaling about 5,000 contracts and $1.7million in premium, appears more consistent with selling far-out-of-the-money calls to manage extreme upside scenarios, rather than expressing a bearish view on the prevailing trend.

Fundamentally, IREN continues to benefit from improving miner profitability expectations and spillover momentum from AI and HPC-related compute narratives. Even as price momentum has accelerated, options capital has not rotated into defensive positioning. Instead, institutions are continuing to express bullish views through medium-dated calls, reinforcing the perception that the current rally is being treated as a sustainable trend rather than a purely sentiment-driven spike.

Summary

Taken together, as Intel's earnings shock failed to spill over into the broader compute complex, options markets have drawni an increasingly clear distinction between NVDA and IREN. In NVDA, positioning emphasizes pullback risk management at elevated levels, with $185 serving as a key near-term reference point. In IREN, options structures continue to reinforce trend-following bullish conviction, with $80 now viewed by options capital as a critical medium-term validation level after the stock's rapid move toward $58.

For investors, NVDA appears better suited to monitoring price stability and volatility behavior at high levels, while IREN—so long as the trend remains intact—continues to trade under capital-driven momentum dynamics. If pullbacks remain controlled and market structure stays healthy, the path toward the $80 region remains a focal point worth tracking.

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