Tesla, Inc. closed at $350.25, up 0.37%.

Large options activity showed a notable divergence: traders sold 3,000 contracts of the $387.50 call expiring 2026-08-28 for $111,000.00, while buying 1,400 contracts of the $380.00 call for the same expiration at $71,400.00. Both were out-of-the-money, but the heavier premium was in call selling, suggesting larger traders were more focused on capping upside and collecting premium than chasing a rally.

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Options Indicators

TSLA’s implied volatility is 44.38%, and with an IV percentile of just 4.78%, current option pricing sits at the low end of its historical range, indicating volatility is relatively subdued and options are cheaply priced. At the same time, the IV/HV ratio of 1.12 shows implied volatility is only modestly above realized volatility, suggesting the market is not attaching an aggressive premium to upcoming movement. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.65.

Large Trades

A call sale worth $111,000.00 was one of the largest displayed trades, with 3,000 contracts sold at the 387.5 strike expiring on 2026-08-28. With TSLA referenced at 350.25, this call was out-of-the-money at the time of the trade, making it a moderately bearish income-style position. The seller appears to be expressing a view that TSLA is unlikely to rally above 387.5 by expiration, or at least not by enough to make the option materially dangerous, while collecting premium from elevated upside speculation.

A call purchase worth $71,400.00 was the other displayed large trade, consisting of 1,400 contracts bought at the 380.0 strike for the same 2026-08-28 expiration. Since the strike sat above the reference stock price of 350.25, this was also an out-of-the-money call, representing a bullish directional bet on upside acceleration over the coming days. The buyer was positioning for a move higher toward or through 380.0, using relatively inexpensive upside optionality to gain leveraged exposure if TSLA extends its rally.

Overall, the large-trade flow leans bearish. Although there was clear speculative upside interest through out-of-the-money call buying, the heavier premium was concentrated in call selling, which suggests that larger traders were more focused on capping upside expectations and harvesting premium than aggressively chasing further gains. Taken together, the bulk-order activity points to a cautious-to-bearish near-term view, with the market showing limited conviction that TSLA will break materially above nearby upside strikes.

Strategy Reference

For a low assignment probability sell-side candidate, consider the $420.00 call expiring 2026-08-28, which sits well above the heavy $387.50 call-sale concentration; alternatively, a bear call spread such as selling the $387.50 call and buying the $420.00 call can cap margin while expressing a limited-upside view.