Chip Rout Drives Defensive Options Bets

The Nasdaq fell 4% on Friday. Chip and memory stocks led the drop. Options markets flagged the stress before it arrived.

FNF — Fidelity National Financial — drew attention with a notable shift to defensive positioning ahead of its June 10 earnings. Options traders loaded up on puts heading into the print. Short interest sits at 3% of free float. That is low. But the put-heavy flow says the market is not relaxed about the outcome.

RKT — Rocket Companies — tells a different story. Shares have been sliding. Short interest is 8.6% of free float. The nearest options expiry cluster is June 12. That tight timeline suggests traders expect a sharp move either way.

RBRK — Rubrik — reports on Wednesday. Analysts lifted targets going into the print. Its ORTEX momentum score hit 74 out of 100 recently. Options expiries extend only to July 24. That limited chain suggests the market sees this as a near-term binary event.

Macro backdrop adds pressure across the board. Bond yields rose sharply after Fed rate hike expectations increased. Bitcoin dropped on the same news. Strategy — a heavy Bitcoin holder — saw options activity pick up as crypto traders turned nervous.

NVDA has expiries running daily through June. That dense chain reflects intense hedging demand. The AI hardware selloff that drove the Nasdaq lower this week put NVDA squarely in the crosshairs.

SPY and QQQ both show a wall of near-term expiries. The June 18 monthly expiry is the key date. Broad market positioning into that date will define the tone for the rest of the month.