CoreWeave put options surge as shares fall 15%

CoreWeave put options surged after the company’s shares fell 15% on Wednesday, adding a fresh options-market signal to a sharp selloff among companies that rent AI computing capacity. For investors following the AI infrastructure trade, the key detail is that the biggest reported options position may have been a hedge against wider market exposure, rather than a straightforward bet against CoreWeave.

CNBC reported that CoreWeave’s options volume exceeded seven times its 30-day average. Traders bought just under 200,000 put contracts, compared with 106,000 calls. CoreWeave’s debt yields had also reached new highs, and CNBC reported that its bonds hit a 15% yield.

Nebius Group and Iren, two other stocks tied to the data-center buildout, each fell as much as 10%, according to CNBC. Options volume was nearly four times normal in Nebius and twice normal in Iren. Calls outnumbered puts in both names, although Cboe LiveVol data indicated more of those calls were likely opened by sellers than buyers.

What do CoreWeave put options mean?

A put option gives its buyer the right to sell the underlying shares at a fixed price, called the strike price, during a specified period. The buyer pays an upfront premium for that contract, according to the SEC’s investor bulletin on options. A purchased option can expire worthless.

The standout CoreWeave trade occurred at about 10 a.m. ET, CNBC reported. A trader opened 26,000 puts with a $37.50 strike price and a Dec. 18 expiration. SpotGamma data showed the contracts traded near the ask, which CNBC said suggested they were purchased. The contracts cost 74 cents per share, or about $1.9 million in total, and open interest had been only a little above 1,000 contracts before the transaction.

The $37.50 strike is not the trade’s break-even level. If the position were held through expiration, subtracting the 74-cent premium puts the break-even at $36.76 a share, before trading costs. CNBC described that as requiring another 42% decline in CoreWeave’s stock over the following two months for the trade to pay off at expiration.

Scott Bauer, chief executive of Prosper Trading Academy, called the contracts “bubble puts.” He said the position could represent a hedge for exposure to highly correlated AI stocks or even the Nasdaq, rather than an expectation that CoreWeave would fall to zero.

That distinction limits what can be concluded from the transaction. The reported session featured a 15% decline in CoreWeave shares, elevated options trading and similar losses in Nebius and Iren. The identity and purpose of the large CoreWeave position were not established beyond Bauer’s assessment of possible hedging.

CoreWeave went public in March 2025 at $40 a share, CNBC reported.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.