Meta Jumps 6% on AI Push; Options Volume Triples
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- Meta Platforms shares jumped more than 6% Friday to the highest level since April, extending gains that began earlier this month when the company detailed plans to sell access to its AI computing capacity; the stock remains flat year-to-date while the Nasdaq-100 is up 18%.
- Meta launched Muse Spark 1.1 on Thursday, an AI coding product positioned to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI.
- Options traders piled in with volume pacing more than three times the 30-day average, and 78% of Meta's $1.8 billion in options premium was tied to calls, according to Cboe LiveVol and SpotGamma data.
- More than twice as many calls were bought compared to puts, and eight of the top 10 contracts by volume were calls as of midday.
- The five most popular trades were all contracts expiring Friday afternoon, led by the $675 strike call at about $3 per contract, which needed Meta to add another 2% by the bell to break even.
- The most actively traded contract expiring after Friday is the July 17 $700-strike, requiring a 6% advance to break even.
- The session's second-biggest trade was someone selling $29 million of both puts and calls at the $670 strike—a bet the stock will stay right where it is for the next two months.
Why it matters: The options flow reveals divided conviction beneath the headline rally: while 78% of Meta's $1.8 billion in premium sat on calls and eight of the top 10 contracts were bullish, the second-largest trade of the day was a $29 million straddle sale at the $670 strike betting the stock won't move through August. With Meta flat on the year versus an 18% Nasdaq-100 gain, retail bulls are chasing an AI catalyst while a large trader is actively fading the implied volatility.
