Sentiment read — Options activity in the week of July 13 was dominated by two opposing forces. Heavy put buying clustered around upcoming earnings events, most starkly in FMX and SNA. On the other side, ACEL saw near-total call dominance, a rare extreme at the opposite end of the spectrum.
CPK — PCR 2.4, z-score +4.2 Chesapeake Utilities opened the week with the highest put-call ratio in 52 weeks. At 2.4, it sat 4.2 standard deviations above its 20-day mean. That puts it in the extreme tail of bearish options positioning. No earnings catalyst was flagged, making the move notable.
FMX — PCR 13.0, z-score +4.4 Fomento Económico Mexicano posted the most extreme single reading of the week. Its put-call ratio hit 13.0. That compares to a 20-day average of 0.82. The 4.4 standard deviation breach was the largest z-score recorded across all pulses this week. Earnings are due July 28. Traders loaded heavily on downside protection.
SNA — PCR 3.84, 52-week high Snap-on's put-call ratio reached 3.84, a fresh 52-week peak. The pulse flagged it as extreme bullish options positioning — a high PCR can reflect covered call writing or collar strategies rather than pure bearish bets. Earnings land July 23. Context matters here.
TDY — PCR 1.56, z-score +4.2 Teledyne Technologies printed a put-call ratio of 1.56, its highest in a year. The z-score matched CPK at +4.2. The stock fell 1.7% on the day the pulse triggered. Put demand rose as the price dropped.
ACEL — PCR 0.0114, z-score -4.2 Accel Entertainment sat at the opposite extreme. Its put-call ratio hit 0.0114 — the lowest in 52 weeks and 4.2 standard deviations below its mean. Calls overwhelmed puts by a factor of nearly 90 to 1. Earnings are scheduled for July 30. Traders positioned aggressively for upside.
GME — PCR 0.58, 52-week high GameStop's put-call ratio hit 0.58, its highest in a year. That was 88% above the 20-day mean. The move signals a sharp reversal in options sentiment for a stock more commonly associated with bullish retail activity. The shift toward puts was described as a sharp intensification of bearish positioning.
CNP — PCR 0.31, z-score +4.0 CenterPoint Energy's put-call ratio spiked to 0.31, four standard deviations above its 20-day mean. Earnings are due July 23. The pulse flagged a surge in protective put demand. At 0.31, the absolute level remains low, but the speed of the move was what stood out.
GSBC — PCR 0.36, z-score +4.0 Great Southern Bancorp's ratio hit 0.36, also +4.0 standard deviations above its mean of 0.19. The stock climbed 3.3% on the day. Short sellers added positions simultaneously. The combination of rising price, elevated PCR, and short interest increase makes for an unusual mix.
KB — PCR 0.938, highest z-score in weeks KB Financial Group's put-call ratio surged to 0.938. The pulse flagged it as the highest z-score in recent weeks. No specific earnings date was cited, but options traders signaled caution.
Earnings-driven put buying The clearest theme this week was options traders hedging into scheduled earnings. FMX (July 28), SNA (July 23), CNP (July 23), and ACEL (July 30) all had earnings dates attached to their PCR moves. The direction differed — FMX and CNP leaned bearish, ACEL leaned aggressively bullish — but the pattern of pre-earnings options loading was consistent.
Financials and utilities Three of the nine flagged tickers sit in or near financials and utilities: GSBC, KB, and CNP. All three saw elevated PCR z-scores in the same week. Utilities in particular have faced rate sensitivity concerns. The options market flagged that pressure in both CNP and CPK.
Retail-adjacent names GME stood out as a meme-adjacent name with an unusual sentiment reversal. Its 52-week PCR high broke from its usual call-skewed options profile. That shift is worth watching in the context of broader retail sentiment.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
