Taiwan Semiconductor's Options Frenzy: What You Need to Know

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Taiwan Semiconductor TSM.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with TSM, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 37 uncommon options trades for Taiwan Semiconductor.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 45% bullish and 54%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 20 are puts, for a total amount of $2,056,558, and 17 are calls, for a total amount of $1,116,604.

What's The Price Target?

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $70.0 and $110.0 for Taiwan Semiconductor, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Examining the volume and open interest provides crucial insights into stock research. This information is key in gauging liquidity and interest levels for Taiwan Semiconductor's options at certain strike prices. Below, we present a snapshot of the trends in volume and open interest for calls and puts across Taiwan Semiconductor's significant trades, within a strike price range of $70.0 to $110.0, over the past month.

Taiwan Semiconductor Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days

Biggest Options Spotted:

About Taiwan Semiconductor

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the world's largest dedicated chip foundry, with almost 60% market share. TSMC was founded in 1987 as a joint venture of Philips, the government of Taiwan, and private investors. It went public as an ADR in the U.S. in 1997. TSMC's scale and high-quality technology allow the firm to generate solid operating margins, even in the highly competitive foundry business. Furthermore, the shift to the fabless business model has created tailwinds for TSMC. The foundry leader has an illustrious customer base, including Apple, AMD, and Nvidia, that looks to apply cutting-edge process technologies to its semiconductor designs. TSMC employs more than 73,000 people.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Taiwan Semiconductor, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Current Position of Taiwan Semiconductor

• Currently trading with a volume of 3,629,214, the TSM's price is down by -0.19%, now at $101.03.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently is currently neutral between overbought and oversold.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 6 days.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Taiwan Semiconductor, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.