Alibaba’s shares closed at $110.80, down 4.74%.

The session’s notable options activity centered on a single bearish institutional trade, with more than $471 thousand in premium spent on long-dated puts. This large order overwhelmed otherwise routine volume and provided a clear directional signal. While call volume appeared elevated on paper, the bulk of that flow lacked the size and conviction to offset the put buyer’s downside positioning.

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Options Indicators

Alibaba’s implied volatility is 43.79%, and with an IV percentile of 33.47%, current option volatility sits in a broadly neutral zone rather than at an extreme. That suggests Alibaba’s options are not especially cheap or especially expensive at the moment, though the IV/HV ratio of 1.41 indicates implied volatility is still running above historical realized volatility, meaning the market is pricing in more forward uncertainty than what has recently been observed.

The Call/Put volume ratio is 2.75. This superficially bullish reading should be treated cautiously because volume alone does not reveal whether trades were opening or closing, nor does it reflect order size. The ratio’s skew toward calls may reflect retail activity or spread adjustments, while the meaningful institutional order was on the put side.

Large Trades

A put buy worth $471 thousand stood out as the key large trade, with 1,250 contracts bought on the $100.00 strike expiring on 2026-12-18. With BABA referenced at $111.63, this put was out of the money at the time of trading, which makes it a clear bearish position targeting downside over a longer-dated horizon. The structure suggests the buyer was either positioning for a meaningful decline below $100.00 by expiration or using the long put as portfolio protection against a broader pullback in the stock.

Overall, the large-trade flow in BABA was clearly bearish. The only notable bulk order was a long-dated out-of-the-money put purchase, which points to downside speculation or defensive hedging rather than confidence in upside follow-through. With no meaningful bullish large-trade activity offsetting it, the options flow indicates cautious to negative institutional sentiment toward BABA’s medium- to long-term price outlook.

Strategy Reference

For traders seeking income with lower assignment probability, selling the $90.00 put expiring 2026-06-18 offers a substantial cushion below the long-dated $100.00 put buyer’s downside target, while those wanting to avoid large margin requirements could consider a $100.00/$85.00 bear put spread expiring 2026-12-18 to define risk and reduce net premium outlay.