Today's Options Market Update

For the second straight month, U.S. jobs growth surpassed Wall Street's expectations in April at 115,000, while unemployment stayed at 4.3%, meeting consensus. Major indexes, already higher before the data, held their gains while Treasury yields remained slightly lower. Analysts had expected job growth of just 60,000, but large jumps in healthcare and transportation and warehousing positions lifted the total and made March and April the first back-to-back reports with six-figure employment growth since late 2024.

War news could remain front and center heading into the weekend once is the market digests jobs data, especially as oil inched up after reports of new skirmishes between Iran and the U.S., which President Trump dismissed as unimportant. As the earnings flow eases next week, geopolitics could push its way back onto the top of investors' list. That said, U.S. inflation and retail sales reports in coming days could keep data in focus, too.

Rising Treasury yields and crude, along with uncertainty about peace negotiations as the U.S. awaits Iran's response to its latest proposal, ganged up on major indexes Thursday and paused the rally. Still, Wall Street remains on pace for sharp weekly gains. With the S&P 500 Index up more than 15% since its March 30 low and near record highs, Thursday's setback wasn't all that surprising. Despite the turn lower, 16 S&P 500 stocks hit all-time highs Thursday, including Caterpillar (CAT) and Alphabet (GOOGL), CNBC noted. Nine fell to 52-week lows.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

• The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by 2 bps to 4.37%.
• The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is slightly lower to 97.91.
• The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is up slightly to 17.22.
• WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 0.80% to $95.57/barrel
• Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 0.21% to $80,175.
• Ethereum (ETH) is lower by 0.24% to $2,296.

Akamai Technologies (AKAM + $19.53 to $136.22) is up more than 19% after reporting Q1 revenue of $1.074 billion, beating estimates, and raising full-year EPS and revenue guidance. Results were supported by strong cloud infrastructure and security growth, and sentiment improved further after Akamai disclosed a new $1.8 billion, seven-year AI cloud infrastructure commitment. The deal is expected to add meaningfully to cloud growth, and analysts at Evercore ISI, Baird, and Oppenheimer all raised price targets following the report.

Option trading in AKAM currently stands at 24,467 contracts, 7x average with calls outpacing puts 4:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

May 15th, 2026, 115.00 put accounted for 5,314 contracts; open interest is 6,859 contracts.

May 8th, 2026, 120.00 call accounted for 1,551 contracts; open interest is 4,012 contracts.

May 15th, 2026, 145.00 put accounted for 1,237 contracts; open interest is zero contracts.

New 52-week highs (255 new highs today): Intel Corp. (INTC + $7.48 to $117.06), Micron Technology (MU + $83.80 to $730.40), Rackspace Technology Inc. (RXT + $2.18 to $5.71), Apple Inc. (AAPL + $4.58 to $292.02), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD + $34.14 to $442.60)

Call activity is elevated in Fluence Energy Inc. (FLNC + $6.15 to $25.13): 38,503 calls traded (14x avg.; puts 7x), led by more than 30,000 calls transacted in the May 15th expiry across the 18.00 to 26.00 strikes. After a revenue miss, Fluence announced master supply agreements with two hyperscaler data center customers, helping send shares up nearly 100% over the past two sessions. Some traders appear to be rolling positions into the June 18th expiry, targeting the 25.00 and 30.00 strikes.

Innodata Inc. (INOD + $41.45 to $87.09) is seeing elevated call volume: 16,353 calls traded (22x avg.; puts ~1.5x) after the company posted a Q1 earnings beat and raised its full-year revenue forecast, sending shares up about 90% today, taking the RSI to 86. Traders chased upside exposure, with more than 7,000 calls traded in the May 15th expiry. The 90.00 and 100.00 strike calls have seen the heaviest activity, much of it above the midpoint (suggesting bullish intent). Even after the surge, shares remain below their 52-week high of $93.85.

Shares of Cloudflare Inc. (NET - $59.62 to $197.45) are down more than 23% after the company announced a 20% workforce reduction and issued Q2 revenue guidance of $664 million to $665 million, slightly below expectations. That weaker outlook overshadowed a solid Q1, where revenue rose 34% year over year to $639.8 million and adjusted EPS of $0.25 also topped estimates. Bloomberg attributed the softer guidance in part to higher AI-related infrastructure costs as Cloudflare pushes further into larger enterprise accounts. Management said the job cuts are intended to help offset those pressures and improve profitability over time.

Analysts had mixed reactions to the report. Piper Sandler and Baird both raised their price targets to $250 and $270 respectively while Berstein cut its target to $136.

Option trading in NET currently stands at 85,548 contracts, 9x the average daily volume with puts outpacing call 1.5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• June 18th, 2026, 140.00 put accounted for 7,753 contracts; open interest is 588 contracts.
• May 8th, 2026, 210.00 call accounted for 5,024 contracts; open interest is 107 contracts.
• May 8th, 2026, 207.50 call accounted for 2,508 contracts; open interest is 13 contracts.

New 52-week lows (82 new lows today): Toast Inc. (TOST - $4.34 to $25.04), Upwork Inc. (UPWK - $2.29 to $8.32), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - $0.56 to $25.68), DXC Technology (DXC - $3.11 to $8.90), Zoetis Inc. (ZTS - $4.71 to $82.60)

Unusual put selling and activity in Toast Inc. (TOST - $4.34 to $25.04) today, with 29,277 puts traded (13x avg.; calls ~2x). The flow is concentrated in multiple May 8th, 2026 24.00 put blocks, with more than 17,000 contracts changing hands, mostly on the sell side near the bid. Prices averaging around $0.31 reinforce the view that sellers were using the strike to express a near-term support level. Shares are down about 15% after weaker Q2 guidance, and today's low of $24.04 marked a new 52-week low. With open interest at just 428 contracts, the activity appears to reflect new positioning, suggesting some traders view $24.00 as near-term support and the sell-off as overdone.

Unusual put activity is being seen in Whirlpool Corp. (WHR - $2.92 to $45.29): 14,603 puts traded (4x avg.; calls ~2x). A large block drove more than a half of the flow: traders bought 7,809 June 18, 2026 35.00 puts at $0.40 (at the offer). This is likely an add to an existing long position, as OI was 5,784 contracts coming into today. Shares of WHR continue to slide today, setting another 52-week low, and it appears traders may be predicting this downtrend to continue.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 0.14 to 17.22) is up 0.86% today, even as equity markets are higher in morning trading (DJI + 5, SPX + 58, COMPX + 367). VIX movement has occurred within a narrow range today (the intraday range is 16.82 to 17.45). The highest volume contract is currently the September 16th, 2026, 17.00 put (volume is 25,201 vs. open interest of 16,764).