Option Focus | Palantir’s $370K Short Call at $190 Strike Signals Capped Upside, While Low IV Percentile Hints Options Are Priced Cheaply

Option Witch
51 mins ago

Palantir Technologies Inc. closed at $177.50, rising 2.76%.

Palantir’s options market saw notable large-trade activity, including a $370,200.00 short call at the $190 strike expiring in 2026. Overall block flow leaned bearish, with put buying adding to downside protection, while implied volatility remained historically low relative to its own range.

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Options Indicators

PLTR’s implied volatility is 52.59%, while its IV percentile sits at 17.93%, which places current option volatility in the low end of its historical range. In other words, although the absolute IV level is not small on its own, the percentile suggests options are currently priced relatively cheaply versus their own recent history. The IV/HV ratio of 0.52 also indicates implied volatility is running below realized volatility, reinforcing the view that current option premiums are on the inexpensive side rather than overstretched.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.49.

Large Trades

A call sale worth $370,200.00 stood out as the key large trade, with 2,306 contracts sold at the 190.0 strike expiring on 2026-09-04. With PLTR referenced at 177.5, this call was out of the money, and the seller appears to be expressing a moderately bearish to capped-upside view by collecting premium above the current stock price. Strategically, this kind of single-leg short call typically reflects expectations that PLTR will remain below 190.0 into expiration, or at least that upside will be limited enough for the option to decay in value.

Overall, the large-trade flow was clearly bearish. The displayed large trade was a premium-selling out-of-the-money call, and the broader block activity also leaned to downside protection or bearish positioning through put buying. Taken together, the bulk orders suggest that larger traders are not positioning for an aggressive upside breakout in PLTR and instead appear to be favoring either restrained upside expectations or outright downside risk management.

Strategy Reference

For traders who share the capped-upside view but want defined risk, a bear call spread such as selling the 190 call and buying a higher strike, like the 200 call with the same September 2026 expiration, can reduce margin requirements while still benefiting from time decay below 190.

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.

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