Puts Pile In as Chips Slide and Iran Fears Grow

Options sentiment turned defensive on Thursday as Middle East tensions rattled markets and chip stocks faced a second wave of selling pressure.

SPY futures dropped in early trade, with S&P 500 puts dominating flow. The Asian tech sell-off bled into US names, with NVDA and AMD both seeing heavy negative options bets over the past seven days. ORTEX data shows NVDA ranked among the top names for negative options bets in the US universe, even as analysts project 70% upside to consensus target prices.

MOH drew the sharpest single-name options reaction of the day. The Molina Healthcare executive cut the 2027 premium revenue outlook to at least $45 billion, down from $46.5 billion. Molina's ORTEX options score reflects the abrupt shift in sentiment that followed.

Defense was the lone bright spot. LMT options skewed bullish as Iran headlines pushed flows toward aerospace and defence. RTX also saw rising options attention, with an ORTEX score pointing to 19.6% analyst upside.

Taiwan export orders, a key demand signal for chip supply chains, hit a record $114 billion in September 2026, up 62% year on year according to ORTEX alt data. That read-through supports the bull case for semiconductors, even as near-term options flow points bearish on the group.

Financials buybacks hit 190 million shares in Q2 2026, the highest quarterly total in 12 years per ORTEX data. That sustained capital return activity may limit downside in financials even as broader put volume rises.