Option Focus | Micron's $75.14 Million Deep ITM Put Buy Signals Decisive Bearish Stance Despite Cheap IV at 27th Percentile

Option Witch
08/19

Micron Technology closed at USD 940.76, down 7.02% from the previous close.

Options flow showed a dominant bearish bias, led by a massive $75.14 million deep in-the-money put purchase at the $1,190 strike expiring in August 2026. This single trade dwarfed a much smaller $0.47 million out-of-the-money put sale at the $850 strike. Despite the stock's sharp decline, implied volatility remains historically inexpensive, making the large downside positioning even more notable.

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Options Indicators

MU’s implied volatility is 68.31%, while its IV percentile stands at 27.89%, which indicates that although the absolute IV level appears high, it sits near the lower end of its own historical range. In that context, current option pricing looks relatively cheap rather than elevated, and the IV/HV ratio of 0.71 further suggests implied volatility is running below realized volatility, reinforcing the view that options are being priced on the inexpensive side. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.30, reflecting higher call contract turnover, but the dollar-weighted large-trade flow points decisively bearish.

Large Trades

A PUT buy worth $75.14 million was the dominant large trade, with 3,000 contracts bought on the August 21, 2026 $1,190 put. With MU’s reference stock price at $940.76, this strike is deep in the money, making it an intrinsic-value-heavy bearish position. The buyer is paying a very large premium to secure downside exposure at a strike well above the current stock price, which points to a strongly defensive or outright bearish stance rather than simple yield enhancement.

An out-of-the-money PUT sale worth $0.47 million was the other displayed large trade, with 1,550 contracts sold on the August 21, 2026 $850 put. Since the strike sits below the current share price of $940.76, this is an out-of-the-money bullish-to-neutral premium-selling trade. Strategically, the seller is expressing confidence that MU can stay above $850 into expiration, using the short put to collect income while accepting the risk of being assigned if the stock declines materially.

Overall sentiment in MU’s large-trade flow was clearly bearish, with total bullish amount at $0.47 million versus total bearish amount at $77.19 million, leaving a net difference of $76.72 million to the bearish side. The directional judgment is decisively negative: bearish capital overwhelmingly dominated the tape, and that tone was driven primarily by the massive in-the-money long put purchase, while the limited bullish activity was confined to a much smaller short-put premium collection trade that did little to offset the heavy downside positioning.

Strategy Reference

For traders seeking a defined-risk bearish alternative to the expensive deep ITM put, a bear put spread such as buying the August 2026 $950 put and selling the $850 put can reduce premium outlay while still capturing downside exposure. For those preferring premium collection with a lower assignment probability, selling the August 2026 $700 put offers a wider cushion below the current price, though the recent bearish flow warrants strict stop-loss discipline.

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