NVIDIA closed at USD 220.78, up 1.48%.

Despite the modest daily gain, institutional options flow painted a decisively cautious picture. The standout trades included a $1.72 million synthetic put and a $1.13 million bear put spread, both structured for downside protection or directional bearish conviction well into 2026 and 2028. With call selling and multiple put spreads dominating bulk order flow, large traders appear skeptical of sustained upside, positioning instead for a potential stall or meaningful weakness over the long horizon.

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Options Indicators

NVDA’s implied volatility is 37.06%, and with an IV percentile of just 5.18%, current option volatility is sitting near the low end of its recent range. Combined with an IV/HV ratio of 0.82, this suggests implied volatility is running below realized volatility, reinforcing the view that options are currently priced cheaply rather than carrying a rich premium. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.64.

Large Trades

A synthetic put position with a net debit of $1.72 million stood out as one of the largest featured trades, created by selling the January 21, 2028 $450.00 call and buying the January 21, 2028 $150.00 put, both for 5,000 contracts. With NVDA referenced at $220.78, both legs were out of the money, but the structure still expresses a distinctly bearish long-dated view: the long put leg seeks downside exposure if shares weaken materially over time, while the short far-out-of-the-money call helps finance that protection and reinforces a ceiling on upside participation. Strategically, this is a synthetic short setup that signals conviction in downside risk or at least skepticism toward sustained upside over the long horizon.

A bear put spread with a net debit of $1.13 million was the other displayed large trade, involving the purchase of 2,800 October 16, 2026 $210.00 puts and the sale of 5,600 October 16, 2026 $180.00 puts. Both strikes were out of the money versus the $220.78 reference price, and the structure reflects a defined-risk bearish position targeting a decline into the lower range by expiration. As a debit put spread, the trader paid premium upfront for downside exposure while offsetting some cost through the lower-strike short puts, suggesting a directional bearish bet rather than outright crash hedging. Overall, the large-trade flow points clearly bearish: the featured block activity was dominated by downside expressions, and the broader bulk-order picture also leaned heavily toward bearish positioning, with repeated call selling, multiple bear put spreads, and synthetic downside structures indicating expectations for limited upside and a greater probability of weakness or at best capped performance in NVDA.

Strategy Reference

For traders seeking income with lower assignment probability amid depressed implied volatility, selling the December 2025 $240.00 call could capture premium while staying above the recent trading range, though conviction for upside remains thin among institutional flows.