Retail traders chased cyber options but skipped the stocks, Vanda says

Price ActionIndustry
โดย Seeking Alpha·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Retail investors piled into cybersecurity options during the sector's recent rally but stayed net sellers of some underlying shares, according to Vanda Analytics. Retail out-of-the-money call turnover across CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler jumped into the 98th percentile of its history over the past five sessions, yet retail investors were net sellers of $6.4M of Palo Alto Networks and $3.5M of Zscaler in the previous session. Institutional positioning was also light ahead of the move, with Vanda's institutional call-put ratio score for its cybersecurity basket at -0.27 as of Sept. 14, below its median since 2017 and well below the +0.84 recorded in January. The positioning came before the Global X Cybersecurity ETF recorded its biggest one-day gain on record, Vanda said. Viraj Patel, chief innovation officer and global market strategist at Vanda Analytics, said retail investors participated in the rally mainly through short-dated options rather than by rebuilding outright positions in the underlying stocks, leaving potential room for retail cash buying to increase if the rally extends.

Impact on stocks 4

Cybersecurity & Digital Trust▲ · 4 stocks
ZSCALER INC. DL-,001
0ZC
± Mixedrelevance

Same Zscaler entity referenced via its German listing; retail net selling of shares amid options-driven rally, no company-specific driver.

Palo Alto Networks Inc
PANW
± Mixedrelevance

Retail investors were net sellers of $6.4M of Palo Alto shares while chasing sector options; no company-specific driver.

Zscaler Inc
ZS
± Mixedrelevance

Retail investors were net sellers of $3.5M of Zscaler shares while chasing sector options; no company-specific driver.

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc
CRWD
± Mixedrelevance

Mentioned only as part of the cybersecurity options rally; retail call turnover spiked but no company-specific development.

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