After all, the chart of Microsoft was looking similar going into its report, and that stock’s now in the midst of a three-day, 25% bounce. The options flows around Palantir also mirror Microsoft going into its report, where traders were scooping up calls and betting on a bigger-than-usual swing.
More than twice as many Palantir calls traded than puts by volume Monday, with traders buying 56,000 calls and fewer than 25,000 puts, according to ThinkOrSwim data. Of the $160 million in premium traded, $120 million was tied to calls, and the top five contracts traded by volume were all calls, SpotGamma data show.
Palantir, 1-year
Cboe LiveVol data shows options pricing implying a 10.5% move after earnings, bigger than the median 7.4% move the past year. For the past five straight quarters, Palantir options have overestimated the actual move, the data show.
The heavy call volume doesn’t mean bears aren’t taking shots. In fact, seven of the eight biggest dollar-amount trades of the day were neutral or bearish, according to Cboe data.
That includes the biggest premium trade of the day, a sale of 800 of the 145-strike calls in Palantir that expire in mid-December 2028, a bearish bet against extensive gains in the stock that brought in $3.4 million for the seller.
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