Unusual Options Activity & Dark Pool Volumes in Uber Technologies (UBER)

Looking Back on Noteworthy Options Activity in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)

On September 20th, 2021, among the underlying components of the NYSE, we saw unusual or noteworthy options trading volume and activity in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER), which opened then at $38.88.

These orders came just prior to today, September 21st’s report that UBER forecasted its first-ever adjusted profit and raised its forecast for third-quarter gross bookings and now expects it between $22.8 billion and $23.2 billion from $22 billion to $24 billion earlier.

The first report of Uber Technologies, Inc.’s unusual options activity was reported on Twitter here.

The report revealed there were a total of 10,000 contracts traded on the $40 strike call option at the ask, dated for September 24th, 2021, representing approximately 1,000,000 shares.

These orders had come just after UBER’s chief technical officer would be stepping down, and reports stating that UBER’s drivers were, in fact, employees by the Dutch courts.

Seen above are the unusual options activities found on the Unusual Whales Flow, dated for September 20th, 2021.

The bullish options order flow had continued, and at the time of that user’s report, Uber Technologies, Inc. was at 57.51% bullish against 42.49% bearish options order flow.

Today’s Unusual Options Activity in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)

Today, September 21st, 2021, Uber Technologies, Inc. opened at $42.34, and there was additional unusual activity seen on the Unusual Whales options flow.

There were a total of 7,855 contracts traded on the $57.5 strike call options at the ask, dated for November 19th, 2021, representing approximately a total of 785,500 shares.

These following trades came through as a part of a multi-leg strategy:

There was a set of 2,000 contracts traded on the $45 strike call option at the ask, dated for November 19th, 2021, representing approximately 200,000 shares.

Additionally, there was another set of 2,000 contracts traded on the $55 strike call option at the bid, dated for the same date, representing another 200,000 shares.

Altogether, this strategy would have represented a vertical call spread, or call debit spread, which would have cost a total of $504,000 upon entry which would also be the strategy’s maximum risk.  The maximum return would be $1,496,000 if UBER’s underlying price reached $55.00 by the date of expiration, which represents a 296.8% maximum return on risk (or 1,806% annualized return).  

The breakeven for this strategy would be UBER at $47.52.  This strategy has a 35.1% probability of profit at the time of this report, so it is assumed the institution, fund, or whale trading these would own UBER shares or other positions at a better spot price to take on this amount of risk, despite its return on investment.  

Seen above are the unusual options activities found on the Unusual Whales Flow, dated for September 20th, 2021.

Seen above, today’s flow would be considered bullish.  Of the top 250 whale positions taken, there were 51.6% ask side positions taken and 70.2% of today’s options volume were in calls.  52.4% of the premium was bullish, with 14,496,417 calls purchased and 18,621,862 puts purchased.

Of all orders traded at or above a premium of $30,000, $58,312,260 of the bullish premiums were in contracts with the October 15th, 2021 expiration; the most active strike being bet upon is the $40 and $50 strike call option, with approximately $71M and $73M bullish betting, respectively.

The above chart shows Uber Technologies, Inc.'s price, in blue, since around June 23rd, 2021; call volume is represented in green, put volume in red, and open interest in yellow.  Call volume on September 20th jumped to 191,588, from September 17th’s volume of 98,521.  On September 21st, the trend continued, and UBER’s call volume climbed to 417,374.  Uber Technologies, Inc. has an average 30 day call volume of 106,300, so that increase represented a 393% increase over the mean.

Previous Unusual or Noteworthy Dark Pool Activity in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)

Seen above are September 20th, 2021's noteworthy and significant dark pool trades on the Unusual Whales dark pool flow.

Most noteworthy, of course, is the sell order after market close for $257,200,000 at a settled price of $39.79, amassed by a volume of 34,700,000 units traded.  Other noteworthy orders are seen, such as the $13,800,000 and $8,700,000 purchase and sell, both also at the same spot price of $39.79, all conducted after market close.

Seen above are Uber Technologies, Inc.'s dark pool volumes, in gray bars, with its price as a blue line.  Unusual dark pool activity amounted to over 8,287,741 units traded yesterday, September 20th, 2021.  The previous high on the dark was of the first report, September 14th, 2021, amounting to 9,992,482 units traded.

Today’s Unusual or Noteworthy Dark Pool Activity in Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)

Today, on the Unusual Whales dark pool flow, there were a series of noteworthy units traded on the dark pool, seen below.

Revealed above, there have been $13,300,000 units traded at the ask, representing 306,300 units, represented by a volume of 39,500,000 shares.  

Per above, for today, September 21st, 2021, the viewable sentiment on UBER remains bullish at 64% versus 36% bearish on the dark pool flow, with 64% being buy orders, and 65.5% of the top-premium flow being buy-side.

For more reporting on the unusual options activity and dark pool volumes in Uber Technologies, Inc. please visit unusualwhales.com.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.