Heavy Options Call Flow in GameStop, Eli Lilly and 8 Other Stocks
GameStop, Eli Lilly, SoFi and others lit up the unusual options activity scans this week.
Many investors brush off options, but others like to “follow the flow.” When large investors — like hedge funds for example — make big moves in the options world, it shows up in a very interesting way. We refer to this as “unusual options activity” and it serves as a way to see what the big investors are doing.
Luckily there’s a leaderboard of options activity for both calls and puts and it helps us track all of the outsized volume.
There’s actually a leaderboard for ETFs too.
With that in mind, let’s look at the stocks that stuck out the most on the call side and the put side.
CarGurus (CARG)
While CarGurus (US:CARG) is certainly not the biggest name on this list, it stands out after one massive trade hit the tape on Thursday afternoon.
That’s after one trader plunked down $35 million on a deep-in-the-money trade. That’s as they bought the $8 calls expiring in 15 days on November 18th while the stock was trading above $14.
They scooped up more than 54,000 contracts to pull this trade off and as of Friday afternoon, they are still holding that position. The trade was opened against an open interest of zero, meaning no one held a position in this particular contract when the trade was opened.
This purchase made CarGurus No. 1 on the Options Flow Leaderboard.
Eli Lilly (LLY)
While Eli Lilly (US:LLY) is a well-known name, it’s not known for its unusual options activity. Now No. 4 on the Options Flow Leaderboard this week, that’s no longer the case after a pair of trades from this week.
First was a short call trade on November 4th, when someone sold almost $400,000 worth of the December $400 calls. At the time, those were about $45 out of the money, so one could even say it is a neutral, income-oriented trade. It could also be a part of a covered call trade.
The trade that stands out even more is a bullish put trade on November 1st.
That’s after one trader sold roughly $2.3 million worth of the March $350 puts. Those were actually in-the-money by about $5 a share at the time of the trade, so it's a rather bullish bet.
GameStop (GME)
One of traders' favorite meme stocks, GameStop (US:GME) makes the list at No. 9. That’s after a large number of put sales took place, which is a bullish position in the options market.
From November 3rd and 4th, almost $1 million worth of puts were sold. These puts were spread out in the $25 and $26 strikes expiring on November 25th — so in about three weeks.
The largest trade was a sale of the $26 puts for $660,000 in premium.
SoFi (SOFI)
While SoFi (US:SOFI) initially gained almost 19% on November 1st after reporting earnings, it is now down more than 6% since reporting earnings.
Ahead of the earnings report, millions of dollars worth of call premium was purchased on Monday. It was a robust amount of buying that stands out quite clearly now after the report and initial rally.
Since the report though, there’s been a lot of bearish call volume piling up. Almost $2 million in call premium has been sold over the past few days, with one trader selling $425,000 worth of the March 17th $7 calls standing out the most.
Etsy (ETSY)
Etsy (US:ETSY) also recently reported earnings this week, rallying over 14% on Thursday in response. The unusual options activity is also bullish since the report.
The one that stands out the most occurred when one trader sold more than $3 million of the June $80 puts. These puts were roughly $20 out-of-the-money at the time and expired in 225 days.
Charles Schwab (SCHW)
Charles Schwab (US:SCHW) is not a stock that tends to have too much unusual options activity, but there was certainly been some action this week.
On October 31st, someone sold $2.2 million of the $87.50 puts. That was an interesting move for several reasons. First, the puts expire in January 2024, more than a year from now. Second, they were already in the money by a fair amount (roughly $8.50 a share).
However, that was followed by another large sale a few days later, this time on the call side. That's as one trader sold the $92.50 calls expiring in December. These were well out-of-the-money, with shares trading just under $80 at the time of the trade.
Rumble (RUM)
Despite its $3.6 billion market cap, Rumble (US:RUM) tends to fly under the radar. However, that makes its unusual options activity stand out even more.
On November 2nd, there was some heavy call buying, starting with the $540,000 in premium paid for the $7 calls expiring on November 11th. This in-the-money call trade was followed by a deep-in-the-money call trade when one trader put down $1.4 million for the April $3 calls.
Two days later on November 4th, a trader (or possibly the same one) paid another $784,000 for the same April $3 calls.
Phillips 66 (PSX)
There was some put selling in Phillips 66 (US:PSX) in late-October, but it was dwarfed in comparison to the sale we saw on November 1st.
Remember, a put sale tends to be bullish positioning in the options market and that was the case with this trade. That’s as one trader sold just slightly out-of-the-money $105 puts expiring in June.
The trade collected more than $1.2 million in premium and expires in just over 220 days.
SPDR EURO Stoxx 50 ETF (FEZ)
Touching quickly on some ETFs, we have the SPDR EURO Stoxx 50 ETF (US:FEZ).
Nothing notable has shown up on the ETF Options Flow scan for FEZ for weeks until this trade. That’s after one trader sold almost $190,000 in the January at-the-money $33 puts.
A day later, a trader sold 10,000 of the December $33 puts, collecting $870,000 in premium in the process.
Voya Financial (VOYA)
Voya Financial (US:VOYA) has just one trace of unusual options activity in its backlog and it came on November 1st.
That’s after one trader paid $915,000 for the $67.50 calls expiring on November 18th. This position was slightly in-the-money as the trader is looking for a rally within the next few weeks.