Option Focus | Amazon's $2.13 Million ITM Put Buy Outweighs $1.23 Million Bull Call Spread, Revealing a Cautious Institutional Stance

Option Witch
5 hours ago

Amazon.com Inc. closed at $259.77, down 2.50%.

Large options trades on AMZN displayed a notably cautious tilt, as bearish positioning outweighed bullish structures. A $2.13 million in-the-money put purchase signaled direct downside exposure, while a $1.23 million bull call spread offered a more tempered upside view. The combination of sizable premium-taking call sales and protective put buying suggests institutional players are leaning toward limited upside expectations and a greater focus on hedging against a pullback.

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Options Indicators

AMZN’s implied volatility is 31.20%, and with an IV percentile of 21.91%, current option volatility sits on the lower end of its recent range, indicating that options are relatively cheaply priced rather than expensive. The IV/HV ratio of 1.22 also suggests implied volatility is running moderately above historical realized volatility, so the market is assigning some premium to future movement expectations, but overall pricing still appears in the low-volatility zone. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.54.

Large Trades

A bull call spread with a net debit of $1.23 million was one of the standout large trades, expressing a moderately bullish view on AMZN through upside calls. The structure involved buying the 270.0 call expiring November 20, 2026 and selling the 280.0 call expiring October 16, 2026, with both legs out of the money versus the $259.77 reference stock price. As a spread strategy, its size should be read from the preprocessed net debit rather than gross leg notional, and that $1.23 million outlay points to a directional upside bet with defined cost, likely targeting a gradual rally while partially offsetting premium through the short call leg.

A PUT buy worth $2.13 million was the other key displayed trade, consisting of a purchase of the 260.0 put expiring October 16, 2026. With AMZN at $259.77, this strike was slightly in the money at the time of the trade, making it a relatively direct bearish position with meaningful intrinsic sensitivity. The buyer paid substantial premium for downside exposure and likely used the contract either as an outright negative directional bet or as portfolio protection against a sustained pullback over the coming year.

Overall, the bulk-order flow leans bearish on AMZN. Although the highlighted bull call spread shows that some traders are still positioning for upside, the broader large-trade picture is dominated by premium-taking call sales and protective or speculative put buying, indicating more caution than optimism. Taken together, the order flow suggests institutional participants are skewed toward limited upside expectations and are more focused on hedging downside risk or expressing a moderately negative view on the stock.

Strategy Reference

Given the cautious flow and low IV percentile, a covered call seller could consider the 280.0 call expiring October 16, 2026, which offers a decent premium while keeping a relatively low assignment probability as a far out-of-the-money strike.

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.

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