Option Movers｜Micron's Volume Surges 230%; Baidu's $160 Call Soars 1843%; Palantir Shows Bearish Sentiment
Market Overview
The Dow and S&P 500 indexes ended higher on Friday(Jan 2), starting 2026 by snapping a four-day losing streak, helped by gains in chip makers Nvidia, Intel and Boeing.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 57,417,227 contracts was traded.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Source: Tiger Trade App
Memory chip maker $Micron Technology(MU)$ rose 11%, starting off 2026 right where it left off in 2025, when it climbed 239%. Flash-memory peer and somewhat new S&P 500 constituent Sandisk jumped 16%. The pair were the two top stocks in the large-cap index on Friday.
There are 713.69K Micron option contracts traded on Friday, up 230% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 54% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $280 strike put option expiring January 9, 2026, with 13,334 contracts trading. $MU 20260109 280.0 PUT$
Unusual Options Activity
Source: Market Chameleon
Chinese internet search giant $Baidu(BIDU)$ said on Friday its AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange on January 1, paving the way for a spin-off and separate listing. Baidu ADRs surged 15% on Friday.
There are 163,571 Baidu option contracts traded on Friday, 5 times higher from the previous trading day. Call options account for 73% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $160 strike call option expiring January 9, 2026, with 6,870 contracts trading. $BIDU 20260109 160.0 CALL$
TOP 10 S&P 500 Bullish & Bearish
This report shows stocks with the highest volume of bullish and bearish activity by option delta volume, which converts option volume to an equivalent stock volume (bought or sold).
If we take the total positive option delta volume and subtract the total negative option delta volume, we will get the net imbalance. If the net imbalance is positive, there is more bullish pressure. If the net is negative, there is more bearish pressure.
Based on option delta volume, traders sold a net equivalent of -1,364,805 shares of $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$ stock. The largest bearish delta came from selling calls. The largest delta volume came from the 02-Jan-26 167.50 Call, with traders getting short 245,823 deltas on the single option contract.
Source: Market Chameleon
If you are interested in options and you want to:
Share experiences and ideas on options trading.
Read options-related market updates/insights.
Learn more about options trading if you are a beginner in this field.
Please click to join Tiger Options Club
$(MU)$ $(BIDU)$ $(PLTR)$Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
