OPTIONS FLOW$TSLATesla, Inc.Open ticker analysis →
$30.64M moved through Tesla, Inc. ($TSLA) options on Tuesday in a 2-leg trade built around the $300 to $600 strikes. The legs lean bearish: the bought side profits as Tesla falls, and the sold side helps pay for it.
What happened
The legs printed together midday, around 1:25 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 29, with $TSLA near $352.64, for $30.64M in combined premium across 10,000 contracts.
Trading the legs as one ticket locks in the price of the whole structure at once, which is how professional desks usually put on spreads.
Netting the legs, the trader paid about $6.2M to put the position on. The sold legs mean the risk does not stop at that debit if the stock moves hard against them.
- TSLA Jan 21, 2028 $600 Call: 5,000 contracts at $24.44 (sold)
- TSLA Jan 21, 2028 $300 Put: 5,000 contracts at $36.84 (bought)
Why it matters
A risk reversal buys one side and sells the other, using the premium from one leg to pay for the other. It is a directional view financed with the opposite option.
Net of all legs, the structure behaves like being short roughly 264,700 shares of TSLA, about $93.34M of stock exposure.
The strikes run from $300.00 (14.9% below the stock) to $600.00 (70.1% above the stock), so the trade is built around a zone rather than a single target.
With 479 days until Jan 21, 2028, this is a long-dated position measured in years, the kind of trade built around a thesis rather than the next headline. Implied volatility sat near 46%, a middle-of-the-road price for movement.
The numbers
| Structure | Risk reversal (2 legs) |
|---|---|
| Lean | Bearish |
| Expirations | Jan 21, 2028 (nearest in 479 days) |
| Strikes | $300, $600 |
| Contracts | 10,000 |
| Total premium | $30.64M |
| Net cost | $6.2M debit |
| Stock at the trade | $352.64 |
Three ways this could play out
Bullish continuation
A move through $600.00 puts $TSLA above every strike. For a structure leaning bearish, that is the worst case.
Bearish rejection
A drop under $300.00 takes $TSLA below every strike. That is where this bearish structure pays the most.
Neutral stabilization
If $TSLA settles between $300.00 and $600.00 into Jan 21, 2028, time decay and the final price decide who wins, which is exactly what spreads are built to control.
What to watch next
- $300.00 and $600.00: the outer strikes that define this trade.
- Open interest on each leg in the next session, to confirm the structure was opened rather than closed.
- Jan 21, 2028: expiration, 479 days out for the nearest leg, when the structure resolves.
- Follow-on spreads at nearby strikes, which would show a desk building a larger position.
