Option Focus | Netflix's $7.21 Million Four-Leg Put Spread Reveals Bearish Institutional Intent as In-the-Money Puts Dominate Large-Trade Flow

Option Witch
Sep 25

Netflix closed at $71.72, up 0.50%.

Options activity highlighted a pronounced downside bias, led by a $7.21 million four-leg put spread and supported by a $734 thousand short put position. The dominant trade established in-the-money puts across two expirations, signaling institutional hedging or bearish positioning rather than premium selling. Although the Call/Put volume ratio of 1.36 appears bullish on the surface, the capital-weighted large-trade flow leaned clearly toward puts, with the biggest premium deployment aimed at protecting against or profiting from further declines in Netflix shares.

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Options Indicators

Netflix’s implied volatility is 37.61%, and with an IV percentile of 47.41%, current volatility sits in a neutral range rather than at an extreme. The IV/HV ratio of 1.01 suggests implied volatility is closely aligned with recent realized volatility, indicating options are being priced fairly overall rather than showing a clear premium or discount.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.36.

Large Trades

A $7.21 million net-debit calendar-style put combination was the dominant large trade in NFLX, built as a four-leg put spread structure and clearly positioned on the bearish side. The trade bought 1,731 Dec. 18, 2026 $107.00 puts, sold 2,988 Sep. 25, 2026 $76.00 puts, bought 2,220 Sep. 25, 2026 $77.00 puts, and bought 1,431 Sep. 25, 2026 $78.00 puts, with the package carrying a net debit of $7.21 million. With NFLX referenced at $71.72, all of these strikes sit in-the-money, which points to a structure designed less for simple premium harvesting and more for downside positioning and hedging through a complex inter-expiry put spread. The use of multiple bought put legs against one shorter-dated sold put leg suggests the trader was willing to pay meaningful premium upfront to secure downside exposure and shape payoff across maturities, reflecting a defensive-to-bearish strategic intent rather than a neutral income trade.

A put sale worth $734 thousand was the second highlighted large trade, with 2,000 contracts of the Jan. 15, 2027 $68.00 put sold. With the stock at $71.72, this strike was out of the money at execution, making it a moderately bullish cash-secured-put style position or a willingness-to-own-the-stock-lower expression. Strategically, selling this put indicates the trader was comfortable collecting premium while betting NFLX would remain above $68.00 into expiration, or at least that any decline would stay limited enough for the option to decay favorably. Overall, however, the large-trade flow still leans clearly bearish: the biggest capital commitment of the session was a sizeable net-debit put combination aimed at downside exposure, and the broader block activity was dominated by bearish premium deployment rather than bullish conviction.

Strategy Reference

For a lower-assignment-probability put sale, a trader could consider selling the Jan. 15, 2027 $60.00 put, which is farther out of the money than the highlighted $68.00 strike, reducing the likelihood of being assigned while still collecting time decay.

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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