Apple Hits a Record as Nearly 900,000 Options Contracts Trade

Apple’s record share price and a 30% gain in 2026 coincided with a surge in options trading Wednesday, as contracts favored calls during the session’s first half.

Apple shares reached an all-time high despite the previous week’s biggest technology selloff since the COVID-19 pandemic, a bear market in semiconductors and renewed concern about interest-rate hikes. Nearly 900,000 options contracts tied to the stock traded during the first half of Wednesday’s session: almost 500,000 calls and 370,000 puts.

Traders had built up put positions before Apple’s November earnings report. As the shares recovered from a brief post-earnings decline, the put-to-call open-interest ratio dropped to 0.87 from 0.95. Wednesday’s trading volume also tilted toward calls.

U.S. options volume through September averaged 70.6 million contracts per day, 20.6% above the year-earlier pace, with exchange-traded fund and index options growing faster than equity options.