Today's Options Market Update

After the market reversed sharp losses Monday, the new day dawns with investors mulling mixed messages and major indexes trending lower. Crude remains down following its plunge late yesterday on President Trump's interview with CBS implying the war might not last much longer. Today, crude pared losses and clawed back to $90 per barrel as Trump threatened to hit Iran "20 times harder" if oil stops flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. Bloomberg reported that Iran denied it wants a truce.

Circling back to the home front, tomorrow morning brings the February Consumer Price Index, or CPI, compiled before oil prices spiked. Oracle (ORCL) reports after the close today, bringing data center spending into focus. Still, the war and its impact on crude could trump most other news as far as Wall Street is concerned. "Everything is beginning and ending with headlines out of the Middle East," said Alex Coffey, senior trading and derivatives strategist at Schwab. "Oil is really driving the ship now, and everything will continue to begin and end with crude volatility."

Major indexes climbed across the board yesterday, with the S&P 500 Index erasing early 2% losses on Trump's comments. The index is now down about 1.2% since the war began. On Monday, 433 S&P 500 stocks were lower at one point but the index ended with slightly more components advancing than declining.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by ~3 basis points to 4.107%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is lower by 0.57 to 98.61.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is lower by 11.54% to $83.83/barrel.

Gold prices have traded in a range of $5,127.10-5,244.90 and were last seen trading higher by ~2.76% to $5,244.80/oz.

Natural Gas prices for March futures have traded in a range of $3.009-3.147 today and were last seen trading lower by 2.56% to $3.04.

Bitcoin (BTC) is higher by ~3.89% over the last 24 hours to $71,108.39 today.

Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN + $1.11 to $16.98) are moving higher this morning after TD Cowan upgraded the EV-maker to “Buy” from “Hold” and bumped their price target on the stock to $20.00 from $17.00. TD Cowan analyst Italy Michaeli conducted a detailed demand analysis of Rivian’s upcoming launch of its R2 model, which is a more compact and affordable electric SUV. Michaeli stated, “Out newly introduced R2 model suggests full scale US demand in the 212,000-335,000 range which supports an above-consensus outcome for 2027. Calls are outpacing puts ~5:1 with the March 13^th 17.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 15,636).

Also trading to the upside this morning is SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (SEDG + $2.64 to $37.23) after Bank of America Securities (BofA) upgraded the energy technology company to “Neutral” from “Underperform” and hiked their price target on the stock to $40.00 from $17.00. BofA analyst Dimple Gosai cited stabilization in the company’s margin trajectory, revenue cadence and liquidity, all of which materially reduce downside risk to the stock. Calls are outpacing puts ~4:1 with the September 18^th 40.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 1,750).

New 52-week highs (57 new highs today): Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND + $4.84 to $213.00), Quanta Services Inc. (PWR + $4.31 to $572.35), United therapeutics Inc. (UTHR + $15.83 to $545.00)

Some unusual call activity (~20:1 calls over puts) is being seen in fabless semiconductor company Himax Technologies Inc. (HIMX + $0.63 to $8.35) as option traders primarily target the April 17^th 9.00 call 9.00 call. Volume on this contract is 15,751 versus open interest of 910, so we know that the volume primarily represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.35-0.40 each, which suggests bullish intent.

Shares of BioNTech SE (BNTX - $22.16 to $80.00) are under pressure this morning after the biotech firm reported a Q4 adjusted loss of €0.33 per share (€0.17 miss) on Q4 revenue that declined 24.8% year-over-year to €907.4M (above the €758.3M FactSet consensus estimate). The company also issued downside full-year 2026 (FY26) revenue guidance of €2.00-2.30B versus the FactSet estimate of €2.75B. Puts are outnumbering calls ~2:1 with the June 18^th 80.00 put seeing the most action from traders (volume is 4,303).

Also trading to the downside today is ABM Industries Inc.  (ABM - $2.04 to $41.25) after the provider of facility maintenance, engineering and infrastructure solutions reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.83 ($0.04 miss) on Q1 revenue of $2.244B (above the $2.193B consensus estimate). Looking ahead, ABM guided FY26 adjusted EPS to a range of $3.85-4.15 versus the $3.99 FactSet consensus estimate. Option volume is relatively light with the March 20^th 45.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 61).

New 52-week lows (79 new lows today): Diageo PLC (DEO - $0.27 to $81.80), On Assignment Inc. (ASGN - $1.11 to $39.22), Planet Fitness Inc. (PLNT - $1.76 to $76.13)

Some unusual put activity (~15:1 puts over calls) is being seen in DICK’S Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS + $2.22 to $198.12) which is primarily being driven by a couple of large blocks that simultaneously traded on the March 20^th expiration earlier this morning:

• 200.00 put (open interest is 583): A 2,780 contract block was bought for $12.04 when the bid/ask spread was $11.20 x $12.80.
• 180.00 put (open interest is 541): A 2,780 contract block was sold for $4.09 when the bid/ask spread was $3.80 x $4.40.

We know that these blocks are new positions based on the respective open interest figures, and it appears that a $20.00-wide bear put spread was established for a net debit of $7.95 (x 2,780 contracts x 100 multiplier, excluding commissions). The positioning suggests that the block trader believes that DKS will close below the break-even price of $192.05 at expiration. DKS is slated to report Q4 earnings on Thursday (March 12^th) before the bell, so this positioning captures the potential impact of that event.

Qiagen N.V. (QGEN - $0.11 to $43.22): Option volume is running at ~97x the daily average on this provider of life sciences tools and services which is primarily being driven by three large blocks that simultaneously traded on the April 17t^h expiration earlier this morning:

• 50.00 call (open interest is 5): A 2,500 contract block was sold for $0.72 when the bid/ask spread was $0.00 x $3.00.
• 45.00 call (open interest is 8): A 2,500 contract block was bought for $2.49 when the bid/ask spread was $0.20 x $2.85.
• 50.00 put (open interest is 1): A 2,500 contract block was sold for $1.72 when the bid/ask spread was $0.05 x $4.00.

We know that these blocks are new positions based on the respective open interest figures, and it appears that a (bullish) risk reversal call spread was established for a combined net debit of $0.05 (x 2,500 contracts x 100 multiplier, excluding commissions). The positioning suggests that the block trader believes that QGEN will close above the break-even price of $45.05 at expiration. Since the block trader is short 2,500 of the 40.00 puts, it also suggests she/he is willing to get long QGEN stock if it closes below $40.00 at expiration.

ServiceTitan Inc. (TTAN - $1.88 to $78.79): Option volume is running at ~20x the daily average on this cloud-based end-to-end software provider which is primarily being driven by some spread activity on the March 20^th expiration earlier this morning:

• 85.00 call (open interest is 356): Two blocks totaling 6,000 contracts were bought above their respective bid/ask spreads for $2.65.
• 95.00 call (open interest is 3,902): A 6,000 contract block was sold for $0.70 when the bid/ask spread was $0.40 x $1.05.

We know that these blocks are new positions based on the respective open interest figures, and it appears that a $10.00-wide bull call spread was established for a net debit of $1.95 (x 6,000 contracts x 100 multiplier, excluding commissions). The positioning suggests that the block trader believes that TTAN will close above the break-even price of $86.95 at expiration. The positioning comes ahead of the company’s Q4 earnings report which is scheduled to be released on Thursday (March 12th) after the market close.

Erasca Inc. (ERAS + $0.29 to $16.05): Option volume is running at ~19x the daily average on this clinical-stage precision oncology company which is primarily driven by activity on the December 18^th 15.00 call. Volume on this contract is 3,413 versus open interest of 1,482, so we know that the activity primarily represents fresh positioning. The majority of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought for between $6.60-7.00 each, which suggests bullish intent.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 2.94 to 22.56) has been on both sides of the unchanged line today (the intraday range is 22.53-26.01), as equity markets are higher across the board around the midday mark (DJI + 327, SPX + 35, $COMP + 163). VIX option volume is above average today at 1,016,730 contracts, and calls are outnumbering puts better than 2:1.