Tesla closed at 354.11 USD, down 0.20%.

Large options prints displayed a decisively bearish institutional tone. A $21.16 million deep in-the-money put buy and a $3.55 million long-dated synthetic put dominated the flow, pointing to aggressive downside conviction. Both trades leaned heavily on put exposure rather than call speculation, with substantial premium paid for protective or directional bearish structures against Tesla’s current price level.

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Options Indicators

Tesla’s implied volatility is 45.92%, and with an IV percentile of 16.73%, current volatility sits on the low side of its historical range, indicating that options are cheaply priced rather than expensive. The IV/HV ratio of 1.14 suggests implied volatility is only modestly above realized volatility, reinforcing the view that option premiums are relatively restrained at current levels. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.92.

Large Trades

A synthetic put position with a net debit of $3.55 million was the largest highlighted trade, pairing the sale of 3,000 Tesla December 15, 2028 $700.00 calls with the purchase of 3,000 December 15, 2028 $300.00 puts. Both legs were out of the money versus the $354.11 reference stock price, and the structure expresses a distinctly bearish long-dated view: the bought put provides downside exposure while the short call caps upside and helps finance the position. As a synthetic put, the trade reflects a conviction that Tesla faces meaningful downside risk over the long run rather than a simple volatility hedge.

A put-buying combination with a net debit of $21.16 million was the other major displayed trade, consisting of long 1,700 October 16, 2026 $435.00 puts and long 1,100 October 16, 2026 $430.00 puts. Both strikes were in the money against the current $354.11 stock price, making this a highly directional downside bet with substantial intrinsic value already embedded. Because both legs are outright put purchases rather than a defined spread, the trade points to an aggressive bearish stance and a willingness to pay significant premium for deeper downside participation or protection against a major drawdown. Overall, the large-trade flow is clearly bearish: the standout orders were dominated by long puts and a long-dated synthetic put structure, indicating that institutional-sized positioning is skewed toward downside risk, defensive hedging, and negative directional expectations for Tesla rather than upside speculation.

Strategy Reference

For traders unwilling to mirror the aggressive long put exposure, a bear put spread using the October 16, 2026 $435.00 and $300.00 puts can define risk while retaining downside bias, or a call seller could target the $700.00 December 2028 strike to align with the short leg of the synthetic put and capture elevated long-dated premium with low assignment probability.