A Closer Look at Tesla's Options Market Dynamics

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Tesla TSLA.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with TSLA, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 175 uncommon options trades for Tesla.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 34% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 46 are puts, for a total amount of $2,202,690, and 129 are calls, for a total amount of $7,601,215.

What's The Price Target?

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $320.0 and $600.0 for Tesla, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Tesla's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Tesla's significant trades, within a strike price range of $320.0 to $600.0, over the past month.

Tesla Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About Tesla

Tesla is a vertically integrated battery electric vehicle automaker and developer of autonomous driving software. The company has multiple vehicles in its fleet, which include luxury and midsize sedans, crossover SUVs, a light truck, and a semi truck. Tesla also plans to begin selling more affordable vehicles, a sports car, and offer a robotaxi service. Global deliveries in 2024 were a little below 1.8 million vehicles. The company sells batteries for stationary storage for residential and commercial properties including utilities and solar panels and solar roofs for energy generation. Tesla also owns a fast-charging network.

Following our analysis of the options activities associated with Tesla, we pivot to a closer look at the company's own performance.

Where Is Tesla Standing Right Now?

• Currently trading with a volume of 75,924,498, the TSLA's price is down by -1.58%, now at $343.16.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 28 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Tesla

5 market experts have recently issued ratings for this stock, with a consensus target price of $304.0.

Unusual Options Activity Detected: Smart Money on the Move

Benzinga Edge's Unusual Options board spots potential market movers before they happen. See what positions big money is taking on your favorite stocks. Click here for access. * An analyst from Guggenheim has revised its rating downward to Sell, adjusting the price target to $175. * Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Morgan Stanley lowers its rating to Overweight with a new price target of $410. * An analyst from Piper Sandler has revised its rating downward to Overweight, adjusting the price target to $400. * An analyst from UBS has decided to maintain their Sell rating on Tesla, which currently sits at a price target of $215. * An analyst from Baird downgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of $320.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Tesla, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.