According to disclosures from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Japan-based financial giant Nomura Holdings Inc filed its second quarter holdings report (13F) as of June 30, 2025. Latest statistics show that Nomura's total US stock holdings reached approximately $60.5 billion in Q2, compared to about $53.6 billion in the previous quarter, representing a 13% quarter-over-quarter increase. Nomura added 509 new individual stocks to its US equity portfolio in Q2, increased positions in 507 stocks, reduced holdings in 573 stocks, and completely exited 447 stocks. The top ten holdings accounted for 32.05% of Nomura's total portfolio value, highlighting the concentration in these major positions.

Among Nomura's top ten holdings in Q2 2025, call options on Meta (META.US, CALL), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, ranked as the top holding, representing a massive bet on the tech giant's upward trajectory. Nomura held approximately 5.77 million shares with a market value of about $4.3 billion, accounting for 7.04% of the investment portfolio, an increase of 10.98% compared to the previous quarter's holdings. With a foundation of 3 billion global users and strong revenue growth driven by "AI + digital advertising," Meta stands as the undisputed global leader in AI applications, with its stock price hitting multiple record highs this year and gaining 35% year-to-date. Meta also raised its 2025 full-year capital expenditure floor from $64 billion to $66 billion, demonstrating that the social media giant's advertising business growth under the "AI + digital advertising" model is robust enough to support aggressive AI infrastructure investments.

Tesla Motors (TSLA.US, PUT) put options ranked as Nomura's second-largest holding, with approximately 10.68 million shares valued at about $3.4 billion, representing 5.61% of the investment portfolio, a substantial 158.39% increase from the previous quarter. Nasdaq 100 Index put options (QQQ.US, PUT) ranked third with approximately 4.8 million shares valued at about $2.6 billion, accounting for 4.38% of the portfolio, up 68.06% from the previous quarter.

Tesla Motors (TSLA.US) common stock ranked as Nomura's fourth-largest holding, with approximately 6.27 million shares valued at about $2 billion, representing 3.29% of the portfolio, an increase of 44.64% from the previous quarter. Russell 2000 Index put options (IWM.US, PUT) ranked fifth with approximately 8.16 million shares valued at about $1.8 billion, accounting for 2.91% of the portfolio, down 31.32% from the previous quarter.

Nomura's sixth through tenth largest holdings in Q2 were: Tesla Motors call options (TSLA.US, CALL), NVIDIA (NVDA.US, CALL) call options, Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR.US), Equinix Inc (EQIX.US), and NVIDIA put options (NVDA.US, PUT). Notably, both NVIDIA put and call options were significantly reduced by Nomura in Q2, while other positions were increased.

Importantly, among the top ten holdings, Nomura simultaneously increased its Tesla Motors put options (Put), call options (Call), and common stock positions in Q2. The underlying logic may be a "long volatility + dynamic hedging" event-driven trading strategy. Nomura used options on both sides to bet on significant volatility in Q2 (deliveries/earnings/narrative conflicts), while using common stock for Delta/Gamma management. For Tesla Motors, where upside narratives still hold promise but downside fundamental pressures persist, this "preserve convexity while maintaining defense" combination represents standard institutional strategy for betting on dramatic stock price volatility.

What is "long volatility + dynamic hedging" event-driven trading? When institutions expect direction to be difficult to determine but volatility to increase significantly (such as monthly deliveries, month-end earnings/guidance, policy and management uncertainties), they employ long straddle/strangle structures (buying both calls and puts) to capitalize on significant unidirectional or bidirectional moves. This highly matches Tesla Motors' Q2 "high uncertainty, strong controversy" narrative. Meanwhile, options positions require "common stock Delta hedging" to enable Gamma Scalping (long Gamma, profit from volatility, offset time decay) during market fluctuations, requiring dynamic buying and selling of common stock to neutralize directional exposure. Therefore, institutions often simultaneously hold portions of the underlying stock, which is Tesla Motors common stock.

This year, Tesla Motors' stock price has experienced significant volatility due to multiple headwinds including global investor concerns over Musk's political involvement, deteriorating relations between Musk and President Trump, substantial sales declines across multiple global markets, and slower-than-expected progress in Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscriptions and Robotaxi deployment. The stock has declined over 17% year-to-date, ranking last among the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants. However, during the April-May rally period, gains reached as high as 50%, followed by a downward trajectory with June-July declines reaching 20%.

Based on position changes, Nomura's top five purchases in Q2 were: Tesla Motors (TSLA.US, PUT) put options, Nasdaq 100 Index put options (QQQ.US, PUT), Tesla Motors call options (TSLA.US, CALL), Meta (META.US, CALL) call options, and Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR.US). Nomura's top five sales in Q2 were: COINBASE GLOBAL INC NOTE 0.500% 6/0 (DEBT-COIN), S&P 500 ETF put options (SPY.US, PUT), Russell 2000 Index put options (IWM.US, PUT), NVIDIA (NVDA.US, CALL) call options, and S&P 500 ETF call options (SPY.US, CALL).

Additionally, Nomura significantly increased its Microsoft call options (MSFT.US, CALL) position in Q2, making this veteran tech giant's call options the thirteenth-largest holding with a 110% increase, highlighting Nomura's extremely bullish outlook on the global AI application wave in Q2. The firm heavily bet on the two global leaders in AI applications - Microsoft and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to continue their bull market trajectory.

From the latest 13F holdings, the institution appears highly optimistic about Meta, along with Microsoft, which carries both AI application leader and cloud computing leader credentials, riding this unprecedented AI wave to achieve sustained stock price appreciation. Microsoft has continued to deliver above-expectation performance growth in recent years, with its stock surging over 25% this year. Its current market capitalization exceeds $4 trillion, ranking second only to "AI chip leader" NVIDIA in market value.