SK Hynix Options Debut Amidst Broader Market Frenzy for Chip Stocks

Last updated: July 15, 2026 7:28 am

2 weeks ago

1 Min Read

SK Hynix options debuted Tuesday with less fanfare than expected, despite the stock’s strong performance. The semiconductor stock experienced a significant surge, yet its options trading volume was modest compared to other tech giants and ETFs in the sector.

The demand for SK Hynix options may have been tempered by the simultaneous launch of numerous single-stock ETFs and leveraged funds focused on the chip industry, as well as the substantial assets held within the DRAM ETF, where SK Hynix is a major player.

SK Hynix Options Debut Amidst Broader Market Frenzy for Chip Stocks

By Oliver Renick

SK Hynix options began trading on Tuesday, but the launch seemed to be overshadowed by the broader market's excitement surrounding semiconductor stocks. Despite a year-long rally and a significant 20% surge on Tuesday alone, the debut of SK Hynix options saw a relatively modest trading volume.

By midday Tuesday, approximately 150,000 SK Hynix options had changed hands. Data from Cboe LiveVol indicated that while more call options were traded than put options, the most prevalent directional trade was the selling of calls. Cboe offered five expiration dates, including monthly options expiring on the third Friday of July, August, September, December, and March 2027.

While the volume surpassed that of the VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH), Sandisk, and Marvell, it fell short of the activity seen in the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) and Micron, which recorded around 380,000 contracts traded on Tuesday. Nvidia, in comparison, saw approximately 2.3 million contracts traded by the time of writing.

SK Hynix U.S. shares performance:

Analysts suggest that the subdued reaction might be due to the immense interest in single-stock ETFs and leveraged funds focused on SK Hynix. The recent filings for nearly a dozen leveraged single-stock funds tied to SK Hynix, many of which commenced trading on Tuesday, may have siphoned off speculative demand. Furthermore, the success of the DRAM ETF, with $23 billion in assets and SK Hynix as its third-largest holding, likely captured significant investor attention.

"Those ETFs – double long, double short – that's a lot of demand that maybe got taken away but I'm sure we'll see a pickup in volume when they list the weeklies," said Scott Bauer, CEO of Chicago-based Prosper Trading Academy.

Notable trades included one trader selling over 2,200 of the 180-strike calls expiring July 17, which were nearly at-the-money. These contracts, sold at $9 each, represented a sale of roughly $2 million. According to LiveVol, the top seven single trades by volume were all bearish.