The week's biggest story is AVGO. Broadcom's shares fell 12% after its revenue outlook fell short of lofty AI expectations. The drop wiped roughly $285 billion in market value — one of the largest single-session valuation losses on record. Options traders rushed into puts immediately after the print. Put open interest spiked across near-term strikes, with the June 18 expiry drawing the heaviest activity. Short interest remains low at just 1.1% of free float, so the options market has become the main venue for bearish bets.
Despite Broadcom's stumble, AI infrastructure spending shows no sign of slowing. ORCL capex could hit $100 billion as its Stargate partnership with NVDA expands. Oracle reports earnings Tuesday. Meanwhile, QCOM holds its investor day, where management is expected to signal a major push into AI and data centres beyond its core smartphone business.
Bitcoin tumbled after a large MSTR (Strategy) share sale rattled crypto markets. Cryptocurrency is on course for its biggest weekly loss since November 2022. In Europe, stocks slid broadly, though the defence sector rallied after Ukraine ratified a $105 billion EU loan deal. Hedge funds are also building short positions in call-centre outsourcing stocks, betting AI will rapidly displace human agents.
NVDA director Mark Stevens filed $199M in sales this week. The Walton family trust sold over $375M of WMT shares. On the short side, WOLF saw aggressive covering — SI dropped nearly 19 percentage points — while DAVE shorts built positions sharply, pushing SI to 29.2% of free float.
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.
