Meta Options Implied a Roughly 7% Earnings Move as $750 Calls Drew Volume

Options expiring two days after Meta’s third-quarter release had priced a 7.3% move around the $700 strike, while their volume did not show whether traders were betting on gains.

Before the earnings announcement, Meta shares closed at $694.25 on Oct. 20. The Oct. 23 $700 call ended at $22.35, while the put at the same strike closed at $28.03. Together, the contracts carried a $50.38 premium, about 7.3% of the share price. That estimate describes the size of a possible move in either direction, rather than a call on which way shares would go.

Call volume reached 6,435 contracts at $700, 3,756 at $750 and 5,002 at $800. Put volume was 2,744 contracts at $650 and 2,652 at $600. The counts show how many contracts traded at each strike, but not which side initiated a trade. They also do not show whether the positions were hedges, so call volume alone does not establish net bullish exposure.

The options were due to expire Friday, Oct. 23, two days after Meta released its results. Their trading therefore captured activity around the earnings event, but the contract counts do not establish traders’ overall positions.

Meta released its third-quarter results at 4:01 p.m. ET (20:01 UTC) Wednesday, Oct. 21, after the U.S. market closed. Revenue was $64.601 billion, an increase of 26% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were $3.83, including a $9.89 billion legal charge. Excluding the charge, Meta calculated diluted earnings per share at $7.40.

The company put its 2026 capital expenditure outlook at $135 billion to $145 billion, compared with a previous range of $130 billion to $145 billion. The change raised the lower end by $5 billion while leaving the upper end unchanged.

The Oct. 23 expiration is the next scheduled date for the contracts covered here.