Key insights
- Meta Platforms (META) experienced significant options market activity, with call options heavily outweighing puts, indicating bullish sentiment. This surge is driven by optimism surrounding its "Muse" AI, a price target increase from Wells Fargo, and the "Petal" subsea cable reveal. Investors are placing bets on substantial price appreciation, with some options suggesting a near doubling of the stock price by January 2027, potentially driven by transformational AI monetization.
Investing.com -- Large options flow lands on one of Meta Platforms (META)’s most active sessions in recent memory — +11.64% to $742.69 as of 2:05 PM EDT, Sep 21, 2026, driven by the "Muse" agentic AI optimism, Wells Fargo’s PT raise to $796, and the "Petal" petabit subsea cable reveal ahead of Meta Connect on Sep 23. The options market responded sharply. Read more
Total options volume hit 1.83M contracts by 1:41 PM EDT, with calls dominating at 1.19M vs. 647,060 puts — roughly a 1.84:1 call/put ratio, a firmly bullish tilt. The put side, however, carries its own signal: put volume of 647,060 was the highest since Jan. 15, 2026. On an +11.6% day, that’s not bearish — it’s institutional longs locking in gains or hedging a hard-won position.
With META at $742.69, the October 16 cluster tells a clear story:
(Screener-sourced values are snapshots and may lag live prices)
The $765 call alone accounted for 17,731 contracts with prior OI of just 9,763 — a volume/OI ratio of ~1.8x, meaning substantial new money opened fresh positioning at that strike within ~25 days. The $775/$800/$820 ladder builds a staircase of targets pointing to $800+ before October expiry — a further ~7.7% from current levels.
The Jan 15, 2027 $1,430 call (35,979 contracts, OI: 45,707) is the headline grabber. That strike sits ~93% above today’s price — a bet that META nearly doubles by mid-January. Context: the Jan $1,250 call (7,459 contracts, OI: 37,743) is already "only" ~68% OTM. Together, these deep OTM LEAPS suggest a segment of the market is positioning for a scenario where Muse’s monetization impact is transformational, not incremental. Meta, Alphabet, SpaceX AI upside compared
Bull case: New-money call flows across $765–$820 Oct strikes, negative skew, and a 1.84:1 call/put ratio all point to directional conviction. Meta Connect on Sep 23 is live in 2 days — the Muse deep-dive could be the next catalyst.
Bear case: Record put volume on a strong up-day hints at smart money hedging. IV jumping 2.14ppt means options premiums are expensive — buyers of calls here are paying elevated vol. And the $1,430 LEAPS? Even with OI of 45,707, those need a near-doubling in under 4 months — a tail scenario, not a base case.
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