Traders are making big moves ahead of these earnings reports due Thursday
Traders signal bids in the S&P options trading pit at Cboe Global Markets on March 31, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
With Nvidia With earnings in the rearview mirror, investors have some gains before and after the trading bell on Thursday. Here’s how the action is building on some of the most popular names for options traders.
Walmart
The consumer retail giant is having a great year, up 16%; This figure is almost double S&P 500 — When consumers under inflationary pressure try to shop at a certain value. Walmart Shares have fallen after four of the last five reports and have fluctuated an average of 4.5% over the past two years. Currently, options traders are preparing for just below that with an expected move of 4.3%. Among all stocks reporting on Thursday,
Walmart was the most actively traded option, with more than 154,000 contracts exchanged on Wednesday. There were more puts than buys by volume, but more premium was spent on buys.
WMT year to date
Nio
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Although Chinese stocks in the Hang-Seng Index fell 2%, they increased by 9% annually. iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) It fell 9%. The ADR, which traded below $5.6 at Wednesday’s close, is a popular trade among speculators looking for nominally cheap contracts. More than 110,000 trades were made on Wednesday, while only 35,000 were sold. More calls were sold than purchased, and the 6 and 6.5 strike calls expiring on Friday were the most popular in terms of volume. The $25 million gamma exposure was five times the actual premium traded; This shows that investors who have run out of money are looking for big, fast moves.
webull
Trading and investment app webull It fell 15% year-on-year, bringing its 52-week decline to more than 40%. This isn’t the only brokerage under pressure: robinhood fell 34% and Charles Schwab It lost 11%. Options investors bought more than three times as many calls on the stock on Wednesday, with the implied move pointing to an 8.5% swing.
Advanced Auto Parts
The best performing player on the list since the beginning of the year, Advanced Auto Parts It’s up 32% and options traders are poised for even more gains. Call volume was nearly three times that of put sales on Wednesday; There were fewer than 800 puts versus 2,000 calls. The stock may also offer the most movement: the implied move is over 11%, even larger than the stock’s usual 9.5% move last year.
