Tesla Motors closed at 311.21 USD, rising 0.76%.

An $81.76 million four-leg bearish combination dominated the session, signaling robust institutional appetite for long-dated downside protection. The massive trade, involving puts and calls stretching out to December 2028, overshadowed a smaller $0.95 million put sale and firmly tilted the day's large-trade sentiment toward a cautious, bearish outlook.

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Options Indicators

TSLA’s implied volatility is 49.93%, and with an IV percentile of 30.28%, current option pricing sits near the low end of its recent range, suggesting volatility is essentially neutral but leaning slightly toward the cheaper side rather than being richly priced. The IV/HV ratio of 0.73 further indicates implied volatility is running below historical volatility, which supports the view that premiums are not especially stretched at the moment. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.19.

Large Trades

A four-leg CALL+PUT combination worth $81.76 million was the dominant large trade of the day, and it appears designed as a long-dated, downside-focused structure with defined directional exposure and premium collection from selected short legs. The position bought 7,200 Dec. 15, 2028 $250 puts for $34.64 million and another 2,250 Dec. 15, 2028 $250 puts for $10.83 million, while selling 2,500 Dec. 15, 2028 $400 calls for $20.10 million and 7,925 Dec. 15, 2028 $175 puts for $16.20 million; all legs were out of the money versus the $311.21 reference stock price. Based on the displayed premiums, the strategy carried a net premium paid of $9.18 million, calculated from $36.30 million of premium received minus $45.47 million of premium paid. Strategically, this looks like a bearish-to-cautious downside structure that seeks meaningful protection or downside participation through the long $250 puts, partially financed by upside call sales and lower-strike put sales, suggesting the trader was willing to cap upside and assume some lower-end downside exposure in exchange for reducing the cost of the hedge or bearish bet.

A PUT sale worth $0.95 million was the other highlighted large trade, consisting of 1,200 contracts of the Sep. 18, 2026 $280 put sold at a strike below the current $311.21 stock price, making it out of the money at execution. As a short put position, it expresses a moderately bullish stance: the seller collects premium upfront and benefits if TSLA remains above $280 through expiration, while also signaling willingness to own shares at an effective entry level below the current market. The trade’s strategic meaning is consistent with income generation or a constructive buy-the-dip view rather than outright bearish positioning.

Overall, the large-trade flow points to a bearish near-to-longer-term institutional tone in TSLA. Although there were some supportive premium-selling trades on the put side that suggest selective willingness to buy weakness or harvest income, the sentiment was dominated by substantially larger bearish positioning, especially the oversized long-dated downside-oriented combination. The balance of aggressive risk placement indicates that professional money was more focused on protecting against or positioning for downside than on chasing upside, so the clearest conclusion from the full large-trade set is a bearish market sentiment.

Strategy Reference

For traders seeking a low assignment probability, selling the Sep. 18, 2026 $280 put mirrors the day's bullish contrarian flow, while those wanting to avoid the margin of a naked short could consider a put credit spread, such as selling the $280 put and buying a lower-strike $250 put to define risk.