Bears Target Chip Names, Earnings Week Looms

Options flow turned decisively bearish on semiconductors this week. Micron Technology and NVIDIA topped the leaderboard for negative bets over the past seven days. Both names carry RSI readings near neutral. That flags repositioning, not panic.

Tesla sits at an RSI of 28. That is deeply oversold territory. Yet options sentiment remains mixed. The stock is down 30% year-to-date. Traders appear reluctant to call a bottom.

The clearest bearish signal came in troubled names flagged by ORTEX. Wolfspeed carries a short score of 74 and an RSI of just 30. Negative bets have picked up alongside elevated days-to-cover of 7.5. The market is bracing for more pain in the silicon carbide chipmaker.

Chewy also drew bearish options interest. Shares are down 37% year-to-date. Short score sits at 57. Days-to-cover is 1.7, so a squeeze is not imminent. But put activity suggests little confidence in a near-term recovery.

On the bullish side, utilities dominated the high positive-call-count rankings. Duke Energy and Norfolk Southern showed calls heavily outweighing puts. That defensive rotation into yield plays tracks the oil-above-$100 backdrop rattling growth stocks.

Earnings season adds fuel to volatility. Boeing, Coca-Cola, PayPal, and Royal Caribbean are all due to report this week. Options traders are likely loading up before results drop.

This article is not financial advice.