Intel Xeon 6 processors are shown to CNBC at Intel’s Advanced Packaging Facility in Chandler, Arizona on November 17, 2025.
Tony Puyol
Semiconductors are a runaway train – up 17 out of the last 18 sessions – and options traders are buying increasingly expensive call options to chase more upside.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) The tracking sector is up more than 30% this month after a 5% pop Friday, and implied volatility is rising along with price, meaning options around the group are becoming more expensive to trade.
The latest catalyst was intel The earnings overnight sent shares of the stock soaring as much as 23%, a rally that nearly tripled the expected move predicted by the options market on Thursday. Intel’s market value exceeded $400 billion for the first time since the dotcom bubble in 2000. advanced precision instrumentsOne of Intel’s longtime competitors moved forward in unison, adding 15%.
Intel, YTD
Option signals look particularly bullish in memory stocks micron And SanDiskWhich made huge profits in the last year due to the demand for AI data centers. Calls in those shares outnumber puts by close to 2:1, and the total call premium paid in those shares is at least four times larger than puts.
One notable exception is the largest of the group – NVIDIA. Volume underlying Jensen Huang’s AI Leader is lower than that of the SMH ETF, perhaps because the stock is moving much slower, down about $3 from its all-time high in October.
Nvidia, 6 months
At least one big trader took advantage of those relatively cheap options, buying 7,500 $230-strike calls expiring on May 15 – a $413,000 transaction betting on a 13% ramp from here. Call volume in NVDA is almost three times that of puts. The company is scheduled to report earnings on May 20.
