Intel Corporation closed at USD 103.49, up 0.97%.

The session’s large options trades were dominated by out-of-the-money call selling, with a $6.30 million sale at the January 2028 $150 strike and a $2.69 million sale at the October 2026 $105 strike. Combined with zero bullish premium in large-trade flow, the activity signals a decisively bearish institutional posture toward sustained upside in INTC.

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Options Indicators

INTC’s implied volatility is 68.35%, while its IV percentile stands at 47.01%, which places current volatility in a neutral historical zone rather than an extreme. In other words, although the absolute IV level is fairly high, relative to its own recent history INTC’s options are not especially cheap or especially expensive. The IV/HV ratio of 0.85 also suggests implied volatility is running below realized volatility, indicating option pricing is not showing an aggressive premium versus the stock’s actual movement. The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.02.

Large Trades

A CALL sale worth $6.30 million was the largest large trade of the session, with 2,500 contracts sold at the January 21, 2028 $150.00 strike. With INTC referenced at $103.49, this call was clearly out of the money, making it a bearish to neutral-income expression that leans against a strong upside move over the long term. The seller appears to be collecting premium while signaling that the stock is unlikely to rally materially above $150.00 by expiration, so the trade reflects a cautious or outright bearish stance on extended upside potential.

A second notable large trade was a $2.69 million CALL sale, involving 2,450 contracts at the October 16, 2026 $105.00 strike. Relative to the $103.49 reference price, this strike was also out of the money, though only modestly so, which makes the position more directly tied to near-upside resistance. Strategically, this looks like another premium-collection trade with a bearish tilt, as the seller is effectively positioning for INTC to remain below $105.00 into expiration or at least not break meaningfully higher. Overall sentiment in the full large-trade flow was decisively bearish, with total bullish premium at $0.00 million versus $9.14 million in bearish premium, leaving a net difference of $9.14 million to the bearish side. That imbalance, combined with the dominance of out-of-the-money call selling and the lack of any meaningful bullish large-trade participation, suggests institutional flow was positioned against sustained upside and favored a restrained or negative outlook for INTC.

Strategy Reference

For traders seeking low assignment probability, selling the October 16, 2026 $105 call mirrors the session’s bearish flow; alternatively, a bear call spread such as selling the $105 call and buying the $110 call can reduce margin while capping risk.