Behind the Scenes of IBM's Latest Options Trends

Deep-pocketed investors have adopted a bullish approach towards IBM (NYSE:IBM), and it’s something market players shouldn’t ignore. Our tracking of public options records at Benzinga unveiled this significant move today. The identity of these investors remains unknown, but such a substantial move in IBM usually suggests something big is about to happen.

We gleaned this information from our observations today when Benzinga’s options scanner highlighted 27 extraordinary options activities for IBM. This level of activity is out of the ordinary.

The general mood among these heavyweight investors is divided, with 55% leaning bullish and 37% bearish. Among these notable options, 2 are puts, totaling $190,750, and 25 are calls, amounting to $1,589,956.

Predicted Price Range

Analyzing the Volume and Open Interest in these contracts, it seems that the big players have been eyeing a price window from $150.0 to $350.0 for IBM during the past quarter.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

In today’s trading context, the average open interest for options of IBM stands at 1076.76, with a total volume reaching 2,079.00. The accompanying chart delineates the progression of both call and put option volume and open interest for high-value trades in IBM, situated within the strike price corridor from $150.0 to $350.0, throughout the last 30 days.

IBM Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Largest Options Trades Observed:

Symbol	PUT/CALL	Trade Type	Sentiment	Exp. Date	Ask	Bid	Price	Strike Price	Total Trade Price	Open Interest	Volume
IBM	CALL	SWEEP	BULLISH	01/16/26	$9.4	$9.05	$9.4	$310.00	$208.2K	1.6K	321
IBM	PUT	TRADE	BEARISH	01/16/26	$9.7	$9.2	$9.56	$310.00	$162.5K	477	190
IBM	CALL	SWEEP	BEARISH	12/19/25	$34.3	$31.35	$31.35	$275.00	$125.4K	523	56
IBM	CALL	TRADE	BULLISH	01/16/26	$110.35	$109.25	$110.35	$200.00	$121.3K	1.9K	0
IBM	CALL	TRADE	BEARISH	01/21/28	$47.0	$43.1	$44.54	$350.00	$111.3K	143	0

About IBM

Incorporated in 1911, International Business Machines, or IBM, is one of the oldest technology companies in the world. It provides software, IT consulting services, and hardware to help business customers modernize their technology workflows. IBM operates in 175 countries and employs approximately 300,000 people. The company has a robust roster of business partners to service its clients, which includes 95% of all Fortune 500 companies. IBM’s products, including Red Hat, watsonx, and mainframes, handle some of the world’s most important data workloads in areas like finance and retail.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding IBM, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

IBM’s Current Market Status

• Trading volume stands at 1,297,762, with IBM’s price up by 0.02%, positioned at $309.3.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 44 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for IBM

In the last month, 2 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $342.5.

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* Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Stifel keeps a Buy rating on IBM with a target price of $325.
* An analyst from Oppenheimer downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $360.

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 IBM, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.