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$TSLA โ How Traders Were Positioned (Pre & Post-Earnings Study)
Looking at options market activity and short-seller positioning before/after earnings shows just how divided traders were:
๐ Short Interest:
โข Right before earnings, short interest climbed to 79 million shares โ meaning a large number of traders were already betting on margin pressure
๐ Options Positioning (pre-earnings):
โข Options market was pricing in a move of up to ~7% (higher than the 4.4% average move over the prior 4 quarters)
โข Net short delta exposure was ~$550 million โ a mild bearish tilt overall
โข For the September expiry, the put/call volume ratio was 3.12 (puts outnumbered calls 3-to-1) โ a defensive setup
โข One notable trade: a September 400/300 put spread, ~6,000 contracts
๐ But not all signals were bearish:
โข For the July 24 expiry, the put/call ratio was just 0.54 โ a bullish skew in the short term
โข Some traders, encouraged by the record delivery numbers (480K+), took bull call spread-style positions
โข Implied volatility was 93%(+ โ) traders were paying up for a big move in either direction
๐ฏ Takeaways:
โข The market knew a big move was coming (IV 93%+), but there was no consensus on direction
โข Many professional/institutional traders were hedged or leaning bearish (elevated short interest + defensive put positioning)
โข A chunk of retail traders bet both ways (far OTM puts + far OTM calls) โ a clear sign of uncertainty
โข Traders who went bullish purely off the delivery beat got caught off guard by the margin/cash flow miss โ a reminder that trading off top-line numbers alone is risky
โ ๏ธ This is a summary of historical positioning data, not a trade signal. Options positioning is not a guarantee of future price action. DYOR.
$TSLA #Tesla #OptionsFlow #TraderSentiment