Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing closed at USD 456.94, up 0.90 percent.

Large options activity showed a $23.68 million long strangle in the September 17, 2027 expiry and a $14.91 million synthetic long in the January 21, 2028 expiry. The long strangle involved 2,000 contracts each of the 500.0 call and 450.0 put, while the synthetic long combined 2,600 contracts of the 680.0 call with 2,600 short contracts of the 350.0 put. The combined flow points to constructive medium- to long-term positioning despite cheap volatility.

>>>Start OPTIONS trading & earn up to SGD 200 in rewards!

Options Indicators

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing currently has an implied volatility (IV) of 36.95%, while its IV percentile stands at 11.95%, which places current volatility on the low side relative to its own historical range and suggests that options are cheaply priced. With the IV/HV ratio at 1.43, implied volatility is running above historical volatility, indicating the market is still assigning a premium to forward uncertainty even though overall option pricing remains in the cheaper part of its recent distribution. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.17.

Large Trades

A net-debit combination worth $23.68 million was a two-leg long volatility structure in the September 17, 2027 expiry, consisting of a bought 500.0 call and a bought 450.0 put, both for 2,000 contracts. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing referenced at $456.94, the 500.0 call was out of the money and the 450.0 put was also out of the money, making this effectively a long strangle entered for a net debit of $23.68 million. Strategically, this points to a sizable premium-paid position seeking a large move in either direction over time, rather than a simple one-way directional bet, and it also signals a willingness to pay heavily for convexity and downside-upside event optionality.

A synthetic call worth $14.91 million was established through a January 21, 2028 combination of buying the 680.0 call and selling the 350.0 put, both for 2,600 contracts. The bought call was out of the money and the sold put was also out of the money versus the $456.94 reference stock price, creating a synthetic long stock-style bullish exposure with defined option strikes. This structure carries an overall bullish bias because it pairs upside participation through the long call with a premium-generating short put that expresses willingness to own weakness down toward the lower strike. Overall, the bulk-order flow leans bullish: although the largest ticket was a sizable long-volatility strangle rather than a pure directional call, the presence of a large synthetic long and the aggregate balance of large-trade positioning indicate investors are still skewing toward upside or constructive medium- to long-term expectations for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Strategy Reference

For a lower-assignment-probability short premium trade, a seller could consider the September 17, 2027 350.0 put, which is far below current support and aligns with the synthetic long's downside willingness zone, or a call spread such as the September 17, 2027 500.0/550.0 call spread to reduce margin and defined-risk exposure while still participating in the cheap-volatility environment.