CNBC's Oct. 21 options data showed traders favored Meta more heavily than Tesla ahead of the companies' scheduled reports, providing a dated snapshot of positioning before earnings.
CNBC cited a rally in SpaceX after its earnings as context for the positioning. The figures cover options activity and market makers' estimates of potential price swings before the reports, rather than the companies' earnings results.
At the time of CNBC’s 12:35 p.m. EDT Oct. 21 report, nearly $22 million in Meta options trades were categorized as bullish, compared with $7.5 million seeking downside. Meta's open-contract put-to-call ratio was 0.5, or about two calls for every put, Barchart data showed. Cboe LiveVol data showed more than 30,000 Meta call contracts traded at or above the ask, compared with fewer than 17,000 put contracts. CNBC said those execution prices suggested buyers initiated the calls.
Tesla's open-contract ratio was 0.75. Cboe LiveVol data showed calls accounted for 315,000 of the 520,000 Tesla contracts traded; buyers purchased 88,000 calls and 65,000 puts. CNBC estimated that 83,000 calls were likely sold and said call sales made up seven of the 10 largest trades by dollar value. SpotGamma's analysis nevertheless put premiums paid for Tesla calls above $200 million, compared with $84 million for puts.
Market makers had priced a 5.5% post-report move for Tesla, above its 3.5% median over the previous four quarters. Meta's estimated move was 6.5%, below its 9% average over the same period. CNBC said Tesla's average move also reached 5.5%, with the stock's 14% decline after its previous report lifting the measure.
Both companies had scheduled their reports for after the Oct. 21 U.S. market close, a timetable EconoTimes covered in its earlier earnings schedule report.
