BlockBeats reported on June 16, citing Bloomberg, that options tied to SpaceX (SPCX.O) became one of the most actively traded products in the U.S. market on Tuesday. The surge in options activity coincided with a strong early move in the shares, with SpaceX rising as much as 17% in morning trading on its third trading day after listing.
Options Volume Ranks Third Among U.S. Companies
By 10:35 a.m. New York time, trading volume in SpaceX options had exceeded 600,000 contracts. Based on the Bloomberg report, that level of activity made SpaceX the third-largest options trading target among U.S. companies, showing a rapid concentration of derivatives trading around the stock during its early days on the market.
Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International, said: “Options volatility is clearly skewed to the upside, and investors are willing to pay higher prices to participate in a further post-listing short squeeze.” According to Murphy’s data, implied volatility, a key measure of options demand, was already elevated at the open. Three-month implied volatility reached roughly 110% to 115% in early trading.
The $220 Call Expiring Thursday Leads Activity
Among individual contracts, the most actively traded option was the call option expiring Thursday with a strike price of $220. Trading volume in that contract reached 25,000 contracts, corresponding to 2.5 million shares. The concentration of activity in a short-dated call option showed that trading demand around SpaceX was focused heavily on near-term upside exposure in the options market.
Jake Taylor, head of U.S. single-stock options at Optiver, said: “Given the unusually high level of investor interest, we expect both institutional and retail investors to participate actively, and market activity and volatility will remain elevated as the market is still forming its view on the company’s valuation and prospects.”