Intel closed at 91.67 USD, up 1.80%.

Trading was defined by a large short strangle and a long-dated call purchase. The day’s largest displayed flow was a $14.24 million net-credit position selling the 2028 $145.00 puts and $155.00 calls, while a separate $2.81 million call buy targeted the 2026 $105.00 strike. The combination suggests investors favor premium collection and cautious positioning rather than aggressive upside pursuit.

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Options Indicators

INTC’s implied volatility is 61.04%, while its IV percentile stands at 19.84%, placing current volatility in the low end of its recent range and suggesting options are relatively cheap rather than expensive. With the IV/HV ratio at 1.36, implied volatility still runs above historical realized volatility, indicating the market is pricing in somewhat higher forward uncertainty. However, the percentile reading points to a relatively favorable entry point for option buyers compared with INTC’s own recent history.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.52.

Large Trades

A $14.24 million net-credit call-and-put combination was the largest displayed trade. It involved selling the December 15, 2028 $145.00 put and selling the December 15, 2028 $155.00 call, making it best viewed as a short strangle rather than a synthetic structure. With the stock reference at $91.67, the short put was in the money while the short call was out of the money, and the trade collected a sizable upfront premium. Strategically, this points to premium collection with a range-bound or moderately constructive longer-term view, as the seller appears willing to take assignment risk below $145.00 while capping upside exposure above $155.00.

A call purchase worth $2.81 million targeted the October 16, 2026 $105.00 strike, making it the other key displayed large trade. With INTC at $91.67, the call was out of the money, so this was a straightforward bullish directional bet on upside over a long-dated horizon. The buyer paid premium for convex upside exposure, suggesting expectations for a meaningful recovery or breakout above $105.00 before expiration rather than a near-term defensive hedge.

Overall, the large-trade flow leans slightly bearish. While there was a notable long-dated upside call purchase, the broader block activity showed heavier downside-tilted positioning, and the biggest premium trade of the day was a substantial net-credit short volatility structure that does not express outright bullish conviction. Taken together, the flow suggests investors are not aggressively chasing upside in INTC here and are instead favoring cautious, income-oriented, or mildly defensive positioning around the current price area.

Strategy Reference

For sellers seeking low assignment probability, the December 2028 $115.00 put sits well below the reference price near $91.67 but above the sold $145.00 put, offering a more conservative short-put yield profile with a roughly 0.30 to 0.35 delta; alternatively, a bull put spread such as selling the January 2027 $90.00 put and buying the $80.00 put can reduce margin requirements versus a naked short put.