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Markets

AI Trade Rebound Fuels Bullish Options Activity in Intel, AMD, Crowdstrike and SpaceX

Options traders jumped into technology and AI-linked names on Thursday after the Nasdaq-100's best day in six weeks, with Intel, AMD, Crowdstrike and SpaceX volumes above average and positioning leaning bullish.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-18 21:40

Cboe's volatility gauge dropped more than two points to 15.4 Thursday, the lowest in a week, after jumping to the highest since late July on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023. The S&P 500 Index added more than 1% Thursday as 10 of 11 sectors rallied, and market-makers in the options pits traded at-the-money calls two dollars above puts, a pricing skew that points to elevated demand for upside exposure.

Options traders stormed into tech trades on Thursday, with volumes in Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Crowdstrike and SpaceX all trading above their 30-day averages and positioning leaning bullish across the board.

Intel is quickly becoming one of the most popular trades among options traders as the stock trades at its highest since July and extends its rally off its summer low to 35%. Reuters reported Wednesday that the company is in talks with SK Hynix to make chips in the U.S. More than 1.3 million options traded on Intel Thursday, almost three times the monthly average. About 270,000 calls were likely bought versus under 140,000 puts, according to ThinkOrSwim data. Of the $320 million of premium initiated by buyers, $231 million was tied to call contracts, SpotGamma data show. The most popular contract with expiry later than Friday was the 115 strike expiring Oct. 2, which needs another 7.7% to pay off.

Intel's longtime competitor AMD also saw bullish flows, with volume nearly double the average. Traders likely bought 107,000 calls compared with 71,500 puts and sold as many puts as they bought, Cboe LiveVol data show. The biggest trade of the day in AMD was someone who bought 1,500 550-strike calls expiring Nov. 20 worth $8.3 million and then sold the same number of 750-strike calls expiring in June next year worth the same amount. The trade breaks even if AMD rallies past $615 by the November expiry.

Bulls also showed an appetite for cybersecurity leader Crowdstrike, up 120% in the past year. The most popular contract to buy in Crowdstrike today is the 250-strike call expiring Friday, a $2 trade that needs another 2% to break even.

Trading volume also jumped in SpaceX as this year's star IPO traded at the highest price since July 7. More than $1.5 billion in premium traded hands, with $1.1 billion tied to puts, but almost 60% of the premium was likely tied to a handful of big put sellers. That included one sale of 41,000 205-strike puts expiring Friday for over $200 million.