Traders Bet on Semiconductor Sector Downturn with Inverse ETF

Just a day after making new all-time records, the semiconductor sector is down almost 7% and traders are finding a cheap way to bet on a bigger pivot.

Options volume in Direxion's triple-levered inverse semiconductor ETF (SOXS) is more than three times the daily average the past month and calls are outpacing puts by more than six-to-one, according to data from ThinkOrSwim.

Betting on upside for the fund means betting on downside for chips, as the fund targets 300% of the inverse daily move in the NYSE Semiconductor Index. Levered ETFs have exploded in popularity amid the massive run in chip-stocks the past year, with daily rebalancing flows across regularly in excess of $20 billion, according to an analysis from Barclays equities tactical strategies.

At just over $4 per share, the ETF offers a cheap way for traders to speculate on the direction of the most important sector in the market. About 260,000 options traded, compared to 172,000 in the VanEck semiconductor ETF SMH.

More than 84,000 calls were bought in early trading Tuesday, compared to just under 15,000 puts bought. About as many calls were sold as bought, suggesting traders might be hedging bullish bets on the ETF via spreads that will cap the upside if the fund posts more gains like the 24% rally its on today.

Eight of the top 10 contracts by volume are calls, with the in-the-money 4-strike and 3.5-strike calls expiring Friday the most popular, according to SpotGamma data.

The biggest trade of the session so far was a sale of 300 of the 13-strike puts expiring in January 2028 that brought in $327,000. Selling in-the-money puts is one way for traders to get a "synthetic" long position in the underlying security at a lower cost than buying the stock outright.