Alphabet options had been seeing a slight uptick in bearish bets lately
The class A shares of Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are 6.1% higher to trade at $149.83, after a Bloomberg report revealed that Apple (AAPL) is talking over licensing Google's Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) engine for future iPhones.
GOOGL is a consistent member of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of stocks that attracted the highest weekly options volume during the previous 10 days. Per White's data, 2,667,198 calls exchanged over this period, compared to 1,414,617 puts. The most popular contract during this time was the March 140 call.
Despite the obvious call bias, bearish bets on Alphabet stock have grown lately. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio that ranks in the 72nd percentile of its annual range.
Today, the skew tilts back toward the bulls. Over 700,000 contracts have changed hands, with calls representing roughly 510,000 of that figure. The weekly 3/22 155- and 152.50-strike calls are popular, with new positions being bought to open.
Despite the recent tech sector pullback, Alphabet stock is still up 6.5% in 2024, testing and bouncing off its 200-day moving average earlier this month. GOOGL is now on track for its seventh win in eight sessions, and is once more nearing its Jan. 29 record high of $153.78.