Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with TSLA, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what this whale just did?
Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 958 uncommon options trades for Tesla.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 43% bullish and 56%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 269 are puts, for a total amount of $21,589,872, and 689 are calls, for a total amount of $48,647,962.
What's The Price Target?
Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $250.0 to $2275.0 for Tesla over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.
This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Tesla's options for a given strike price.
Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Tesla's whale activity within a strike price range from $250.0 to $2275.0 in the last 30 days.
Tesla Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | PUT | SWEEP | BULLISH | 06/21/24 | $600.00 | $995.2K | 1.8K | 140 |
| TSLA | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 08/12/22 | $900.00 | $316.2K | 8.0K | 38.0K |
| TSLA | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 01/20/23 | $400.00 | $253.0K | 1.7K | 11 |
| TSLA | PUT | SWEEP | BULLISH | 08/12/22 | $850.00 | $247.2K | 5.1K | 30.9K |
| TSLA | PUT | SWEEP | BEARISH | 08/12/22 | $890.00 | $213.1K | 1.1K | 9.8K |
Where Is Tesla Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 21,167,166, the price of TSLA is up 4.16% at $900.47.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be overbought.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 72 days.
What The Experts Say On Tesla:
- Wells Fargo has decided to maintain their Equal-Weight rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $820.
- Berenberg has decided to maintain their Hold rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $850.
- Citigroup has decided to maintain their Sell rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $424.
- GLJ Research has decided to maintain their Sell rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $73.
- Credit Suisse downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $1000
Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Tesla, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.
