Monster Beverage options flow points to institutional put selling

Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) is currently trading at $42.29, down 0.89% as of September 25, 10:49 AM EDT. The company has a market capitalization of $83.0 billion and a 52-week trading range between $32.21 and $50.17. A notable feature of the options flow is the significant difference between puts and calls. Specifically, there are 6,975 puts compared to only 124 calls, resulting in a put/call ratio of approximately 56:1.

This ratio indicates institutional positioning rather than retail activity. The dominant trade appears to be premium selling, rather than bearish positioning, based on volatility data. The Dec 18, 2026 $37.50 put accounted for 8,047 contracts, with an open interest of just 207, making it a fresh, large-scale position. The falling skew and falling implied volatility (IV) suggest that if anyone were buying puts, implied volatility would be rising, not falling.

This points to a likely institutional sale of the $37.50 puts, indicating a contrarian bullish bet that MNST will remain above $37.50 through December and collect premium.