Qualcomm closed at $188.71, rising 2.09%.

Options flow showed a burst of bullish conviction, led by a $2.18 million call spread calendar and a $1.11 million out-of-the-money call purchase. With the Call/Put volume ratio at 2.19 and implied volatility elevated but not extreme, traders are positioning for a controlled upside move through late September and into October.

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Options Indicators

QCOM’s implied volatility is 48.98%, and with an IV percentile of 68.53%, current option volatility sits in the upper end of the historical range but still broadly near the high side of neutral rather than outright extreme. Combined with the IV/HV ratio of 1.69, this suggests implied volatility is running notably above realized volatility, so option premiums appear somewhat rich, with the market embedding a meaningful volatility cushion into current pricing.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.19.

Large Trades

A call spread-style calendar combination with a net debit of $2.18 million was the largest displayed trade, built across two expirations and four legs: long the 185.00 call and 190.00 call expiring 2026-09-18, while also long the 195.00 call and short the 200.00 call expiring 2026-09-25. Because this structure contains both buy calls and a sell call, it is best read as a spread strategy rather than a synthetic position. The net debit indicates the trader paid premium upfront, pointing to a directional bet with some defined upside shaping rather than a pure income trade. With QCOM referenced at 188.71, the long 185.00 call is in the money, while the 190.00, 195.00, and 200.00 calls are out of the money, suggesting the position is leaning bullish and targeting a controlled upside move through late September while partially offsetting cost by capping part of the farther-dated upside with the short 200.00 call.

A single-leg call buy worth $1.11 million added to the bullish tone, with 1,114 contracts of the 190.00 call purchased for expiration on 2026-10-16. Given the reference stock price of 188.71, this strike was slightly out of the money at execution, which makes the trade a straightforward upside bet on QCOM pushing above 190.00 over the next month. The fact that the buyer chose calls rather than stock also suggests a preference for leveraged upside exposure with defined premium risk. Overall, the large-trade flow points to a bullish near-to-medium-term stance on QCOM, as the featured activity was dominated by premium-paid call exposure and upside-oriented structures, indicating traders are positioning for further gains rather than defensively hedging or expressing outright downside conviction.

Strategy Reference

For traders wary of elevated premiums but wanting to express a modestly bullish or neutral-to-bullish view, selling the 175.00 put expiring 2026-09-18 could offer a low assignment probability while collecting a meaningful premium cushion below current support.