The markets are closed today for the Juneteenth holiday. They’ll reopen at their usual time on Monday.
In yesterday’s trading, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 1.08% and 1.91%, respectively. As a result, both indices had winning weeks, albeit on one less day of trading.
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The big winner on the day was Intel (INTC), which gained nearly 11% after news that it will work with Apple (AAPL) on U.S. chip design and production, while the iPhone maker’s stock barely moved.
The options markets were very busy on Thursday with volume of 75.04 million, 12.5 million higher than the 90-day average. Calls outnumbered puts 57% to 43%. As is typical, single-leg trades accounted for 55% of the volume. Excluding DTEs (days to expiration) of five days or less, stocks expiring between 11 and 30 days accounted for the largest percentage at 14%.
As a result, today’s newsletter commentary about yesterday’s unusual options activity focuses on July 17 calls, which expire in 28 days.
Three caught my interest. All with at least 10,000 in volume and Vol/OI (volume-to-open-interest) ratios of 10 or higher.
Have an excellent long weekend.
The Options in Question
United Microelectronics (UMC)
United Microelectronics (UMC) had the seventh-highest Vol/OI ratio yesterday among options expiring in seven days or more and with at least 500 contracts in volume. The 19,826 volume for the July 17 $28 call was the 28th highest.
The stock’s options volume on Thursday was 127,238, about six times the 30-day average. The July 17 $28 call accounted for nearly 16% of the volume.
I don’t spend much time on semiconductor stocks, opting to focus on Nvidia (NVDA) and a few others, but its stock has gained 206% in 2026, so it’s hard to ignore.
From a momentum standpoint, it’s on fire. The Barchart Technical Opinion rates it a 100% Strong Buy. Analysts, at least of the 7 that cover it, rate it a Moderate Sell (2.29 out of 5), with a $9.36 target price. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the 22 analysts covering it in Asia rate it a Hold.
Its revenue growth is decent, but not spectacular, growing around 6.1% annually over the past five years. However, does generate a healthy profit from its revenue. In the trailing 12 months ended March 31, its EBIT (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was 18.8%.
It’s not something I’d be interested in, but given that the $0.90 ask price is just 3.74% of yesterday’s closing share price, and the expected move is 15.25%, you’ve got a one-in-five chance of making money.
ASE Technology Holding Co. (ASX)
ASE Technology Holding Co. (ASX) had the ninth-highest Vol/OI ratio yesterday at 80.68, while the volume of 10,085 for its July 17 $47.50 call was the 64th highest. Overall volume for ASX yesterday was 48,330, 6.6 times its 30-day average. The July 17 $47.50 call accounted for 21% of the volume.
ASX provides microchip packaging, testing, and electronics manufacturing services for completed microchips, which are attached to circuit boards for use in smartphones and other electronic devices.
Its stock is also on fire, up 152% in 2026, and 300% over the past 12 months. The Barchart Technical Opinion rates it a 100% Strong Buy. Of the 5 North American analysts that cover it, rate it a Strong Buy (5 out of 5), with a $39.50 target price, slightly below its current share price. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the 17 analysts covering it in Asia rate it a Buy.
At first glance, it seems like a better business than United Microelectronics. However, its EBIT margin is about half, so the “middleman” factor affects its profitability.
One trade of 9,826 July 17 $47.50 calls traded hands at 2:46 p.m. ET yesterday. That’s 97% of the DTE’s total volume on the day. The trade price of $1.01 was right in the middle of the bid and ask prices. That’s an even smaller percentage of the share price at 2.5% than the long call info shown above.
However, as the code notes, it was part of a multi-leg trade. The July 17 $42.50 call also happened to have a trade for 9,826 contracts yesterday, so it’s most likely a Bull Call Spread. You buy the $42.50 and sell the $47.50 to lower the cost of the long call.
For both semiconductor stocks and 29-day DTEs, the bull call spread makes more sense than a long call on its own.
QXO (QXO)
QXO (QXO) had the 12th-highest Vol/OI ratio yesterday at 63.06, while the volume of 10,783 for its July 17 $23 call was the 68th highest. Overall volume for QXO yesterday was 51,527, 2.6 times its 30-day average. The July 17 $23 call accounted for 21% of that volume.
If you’re unfamiliar with QXO, it is the latest consolidation play by Brad Jacobs, who is ranked 191st on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and is worth an estimated $16.1 billion. He got there by buying moderate-sized businesses in industries where technology was underutilized, fixing what needed to be fixed, notably the technology, and then using it as a platform to buy and consolidate businesses in those industries.
With QXO, the focus is on North American building materials distribution. Since listing its shares on the NYSE in January 2025, it has made two acquisitions: $11 billion for Beacon Roofing in April 2025 and $2.25 billion for Kodiak Building Partners in April 2026.
About the same time it closed the Kodiak deal, it announced its biggest acquisition yet, paying $17 billion in cash and stock for TopBuild (BLD), the largest distributor and installer of insulation and related building products in North America. The final cash-to-stock ratio depends on what TopBuild shareholders decide to accept. The acquisition should close by the end of September.
If it were anyone other than Brad Jacobs, I would have my doubts. Very few CEOs are good at acquisitions, especially large ones. Jacobs has built his legacy on efficiently integrating acquisitions into his existing businesses. His methods are part art, part science.
Unlike UMC and ASX, QXO is not on fire, down nearly 8% in 2026 and 25% over the past year. Most of that has to do with weakness in the homebuilding sector. The need for new homes and remodelled/renovated homes isn’t going away. It might ebb and flow, but residential and commercial construction will be around 100 years from now.
At first glance, one would be hard-pressed to justify going long on the July 17 $23 calls when the likelihood of the shares being above the $23.15 breakeven in 28 days is barely 7%. From yesterday’s close, QXO’s share price would need to climb over 30% in a month to get to breakeven. The expected move is only 12.06%.
But here’s the thing. The ask price of $0.15 is less than 1% of QXO’s closing price from yesterday. You can’t even go to the movies for $15. The price is ideal for speculative bets like this one.
Secondly, 74% of the volume for the July 17 $23 calls was in a single trade of 8,000 at 2:14 p.m. ET yesterday. A second trade for 2,000 happened at precisely the same time. It could be a coincidence, or it could be an institution buying 200,000 shares at around $17.75 to cover the 2,000 calls, which reduced the cost of the 8,000 calls by 18.75% ($30,000).
Hypothetically, let’s say Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) makes a $27 per share offer to buy QXO in the next month. It announced in early June that it would acquire Taylor Morrison Home (TMHC) for $8.5 billion, which includes the assumption of debt. Berkshire is building a vertically integrated platform for the construction industry. QXO would fit the mould.
Under this hypothetical situation, the institution would make $4.12 million:
1) The investor buys 200,000 shares at $17.75 a share for an outlay of $3.55 million.
2) The investor sells 2,000 $23 call contracts for $30,000 in premium.
3) The investor buys 8,000 $23 call contracts for $160,000.
4) The 2,000 call contracts would result in the 200,000 shares owned being assigned to the call buyer for $23 a share, or $4.6 million.
5) The 8,000 $23 calls would be exercised at $23 a share, a cost of $18.4 million.
6) The investor would sell the 800,000 shares acquired by exercising the calls for $27 per share, or $21.6 million.
Not a bad month’s work.
On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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