Option Movers | Microsoft Mixed $4M Bear & $1.7M Long Call Bets Signal Cautious Institutions; Alphabet $1.74M Long OTM Call Flags Strong Bullishness
Market Overview
Wall Street's three major indexes finished lower on Monday (July 20) while investors looked for moves toward Middle East de-escalation and waited for earnings reports due from major technology companies later in the week.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 58,103,570 contracts was traded, of which 56% were call options.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: $NVDA(NVDA)$, $TSLA(TSLA)$, $AAPL(AAPL)$, $MU(MU)$, $MSFT(MSFT)$, $AMZN(AMZN)$, $INTC(INTC)$, $VIX(VIX)$, $SPCX(SPCX)$, $AMD(AMD)$
Source: Tiger Trade app
In the latest close session, $Microsoft(MSFT)$ up 2.15% at $402.29. AMD expanded a long-term strategic partnership with Microsoft to deploy its Helios rackscale AI platform across Azure at scale. Microsoft plans to use Helios to run frontier-model inference for internal workloads, Azure AI services, and customer applications. Also, market participants will be closely following the financial results of Microsoft in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on July 29, 2026. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $4.21, showcasing a 15.34% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Recent large options trades in Microsoft, including a multi-million dollar bear call spread and a sizable long call purchase, point to a complex institutional sentiment. These flows suggest caution on the immediate upside despite the stock's positive move, as traders position for potential volatility and defined-risk outcomes.
A bearish call spread worth $3.97 million was the largest displayed trade, built by selling 1,200 August 21, 2026 $405.00 calls and buying 2,400 August 21, 2026 $455.00 calls. Both strikes were out of the money versus the $402.29 reference stock price, and the structure is classified as a bear call spread with an overall bearish bias. Strategically, this type of position is typically used to collect premium while expressing a view that MSFT is unlikely to rally meaningfully through the lower short-call area, with the long higher-strike calls serving as upside risk protection. MSFT 20260821 405.0 CALL
Source: Tiger Trade app
Source: Tiger Trade app
Unusual Options Activity
$Alphabet(GOOG)$ closed at USD 351.37, up 1.52%. Reports revealed that Google is developing a new server chip called Frozen V2 that can directly integrate its Gemini AI models. Sources indicate the chip could be 6 to 10 times more efficient than the latest version of Google's existing homegrown AI chips, with planned deployment as early as 2028. Google intends to use the chip to address shortages in AI computing capacity and improve AI service efficiency. With Q2 earnings scheduled for July 22, where analysts expect revenue of approximately $116.8 billion, the chip development progress reinforces Google's long-term AI infrastructure commitment ahead of the report.
The session's options activity was highlighted by a substantial bullish bet, with a single large trade in long-dated out-of-the-money call options accounting for the majority of notable flow.
A CALL purchase worth $1.74 million stood out as the key large trade, with 2,070 contracts bought at the 375.0 strike expiring on 2026-08-21. With GOOG referenced at $351.37, this call was out-of-the-money at the time of execution, indicating the buyer was positioning for upside beyond current levels over a longer-dated horizon. As a single-leg bullish options trade, it reflects a directional bet on continued appreciation in the stock, likely expressing conviction that GOOG can rise meaningfully enough to overcome both the strike distance and the premium paid. GOOG 20260821 375.0 CALL
Source: Tiger Trade app
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Risks
Implied volatility typically contracts rapidly after earnings, a phenomenon commonly referred to as IV crush, which can significantly reduce the value of long option positions even if the stock moves in the anticipated direction. In addition, time decay accelerates as options approach expiration. Investors should carefully assess the risk profile of any options strategy before establishing positions.
Disclaimer: This analysis is based on publicly available market data and is provided for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Options trading involves substantial risk, and investors may lose more than their initial investment.
$Microsoft(MSFT)$ $Archer Aviation Inc.(ACHR)$ $Alphabet(GOOG)$ $Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares(MSFU)$ $GraniteShares 2x Long MSFT Daily ETF(MSFL)$ $Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1X Shares(MSFD)$ $T-Rex 2X Long Microsoft Daily Target ETF(MSFX)$ $YieldMax MSFT Option Income Strategy ETF(MSFO)$ $Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Microsoft (MSFT) ETF(MSFY)$ $Roundhill MSFT WeeklyPay ETF(MSFW)$ $Tradr 2X Long ACHR Daily ETF(ARCX)$ $T-REX 2X Long Alphabet Daily Target ETF(GOOX)$ $KURV YIELD PREMIUM STRATEGY GOOGLE (GOOGL) ETF(GOOP)$Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
