Options Traders Bet on Record Highs for Meta, Intel, and Chip Stocks Despite Weak Breadth

Broad market index futures have pushed to all-time highs despite narrow market participation, with derivatives activity pointing to heavy institutional positioning for further gains across benchmark index funds and key technology shares, according to a report from CNBC Business (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/22/no-new-stock-highs-no-problem-options-traders-bet-theyre-coming-in-these-names.html).

While S&P 500 futures notched record peaks, breadth across the New York Stock Exchange revealed sharp underlying divergence on Tuesday, with 75 equities establishing new 52-week lows against just 14 names recording new 52-week highs.

Despite the narrow market advance, derivatives positioning accelerated sharply. Following Monday's equity advance, institutional market-makers appeared caught off guard and bought upside call options to manage risk against surging momentum. Data from Barchart shows the overall volume ratio of calls to puts reached its highest level since May. For the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the call-to-put ratio reached its highest level since early August, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) saw its ratio climb to a one-year peak.

Derivatives pricing on the ThinkOrSwim platform indicates a greater than 67% probability that the Nasdaq 100 will reach a new high by the end of the week. Options activity across leading technology companies reflects comparable upside expectations, pricing in potential new records before year-end for Meta Platforms, Intel, and Micron.

In Meta Platforms, weekly options volume exceeded four times its 30-day average. Implied volatility for call options surpassed puts across the contract term structure, according to Barchart data. ThinkOrSwim contract pricing implies a 52% probability that Meta will reach $790—matching its closing peak from last year—by Oct. 2.

Semiconductor shares have similarly registered heavy call activity. Intel shares have gained 35% over the past month, leading recent chip sector momentum with an implied volatility reading of 69. Market-makers assign roughly a 50% probability that Intel will surpass its prior closing peak of approximately $140 by Oct. 30.

Memory chip equities extended advances on Tuesday as the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) climbed 2%, lifted by a greater than 6% gain in Sandisk and a more than 3% rise in Micron. Options pricing reflects expectations for a new record in Micron by Oct. 23 and Sandisk by Dec. 18. In contrast, implied volatility for the broader DRAM ETF has contracted since the summer, with options pricing assigning a 34% probability of a new fund high by Dec. 18.