Royal Caribbean Cruises options flow turns bearish as put volume surges

Investing.com reports that put options on Royal Caribbean Cruises have seen a significant surge in trading volume, with over 33,000 contracts changing hands, far outpacing the call options. The options are showing a strong bearish sentiment, likely due to concerns about a potential downward movement in the stock price before year-end.

The majority of this activity is centered around December 2026 puts with $270 and $280 strike prices, indicating a significant number of investors or traders are hedging or speculating on a decline. Out of the 33,609 contracts traded by 11:20 a.m., puts accounted for 26,529, which is more than triple the call volume. The largest blocks of these contracts were December 18, 2026, $270 and $280 put options, with open interest reaching an impressive 182 and 12,896, respectively.

This new positioning suggests that institutions may be looking for protection against potential downside risk or betting on a slide in the stock price. While calls were not completely ignored, with 3,000 contracts each traded for the December $330 and January 2027 $310 calls, their open interest was notably lower, at 198 for the January call and 3,126 for the December call.

The higher open interest in the $330 call suggests that there were prior bullish expectations, while the $310 call may represent fresh speculation. Royal Caribbean Cruises, with a trading price of $273.92 and a market capitalization of $74.73 billion, is the subject of this bearish trend in its options market. This report was AI-generated and reviewed by an editor for accuracy.