Salesforce Bears Place $2.37M Bet With Deep ITM Put as Stock Slides Near 52-Week Lows

By TrendSpider Editor

A single unusual options contract worth $2,370,000 in premium has surfaced in Salesforce, Inc. (CRM), flagging significant bearish conviction just as the stock trades at $227.33 following a 2.87% decline on Monday. The contract is a deep in-the-money put at the $250 strike expiring September 17, 202

Salesforce Bears Place $2.37M Bet With Deep ITM Put as Stock Slides Near 52-Week Lows

A single unusual options contract worth $2,370,000 in premium has surfaced in Salesforce, Inc. (CRM), flagging significant bearish conviction just as the stock trades at $227.33 following a 2.87% decline on Monday. The contract is a deep in-the-money put at the $250 strike expiring September 17, 2027, with a size of 500 contracts and an open interest percentile of 97%, indicating this is a highly unusual level of activity relative to historical norms. With CRM currently sitting well below that strike and trading within a 52-week range of $147.58 to $269.11, this trade carries real structural weight.

Key Drivers of the CRM Stock Move

• Main Catalyst: One unusual put contract was detected at the $250 strike expiring September 17, 2027, with a volume of 500 contracts, an open interest percentile of 97%, and a total premium of $2,370,000. The contract is currently in-the-money, meaning the $250 strike sits above the current price of $227.33.
• Bull Case: The $250 strike put could represent a sophisticated hedging strategy rather than an outright directional bet. Institutions often buy in-the-money puts to protect large long equity positions, particularly when a stock is up significantly from its 52-week low of $147.58. If CRM holds above support and rebounds, the hedge simply expires with reduced value while the underlying long position profits.
• Bear Case: A $2,370,000 premium commitment at a 97th percentile open interest level is a high-conviction signal that someone expects CRM to remain under pressure or move meaningfully lower before September 2027. With the stock already down 2.87% today and sitting more than $40 below the 52-week high of $269.11, the path of least resistance may favor continued weakness if broader market conditions deteriorate.

The forward setup for CRM warrants close attention heading into the final quarter of 2026. The stock is currently in the lower half of its 52-week range, and today's selloff adds another layer of technical pressure. A single deeply in-the-money put of this size, with nearly a full year of runway, suggests that at least one sophisticated market participant is either protecting a large long position or making an outright directional wager that Salesforce will remain below $250 through mid-September 2027. Traders should monitor whether additional unusual options flow emerges in the coming sessions to confirm whether this is an isolated hedge or the beginning of a broader positioning shift.

CRM Unusual Options Activity

• Type: Put | Strike: $250 | Expiry: September 17, 2027 | Volume: 500 | Open Interest Percentile: 97% | Moneyness: In-the-Money | Premium: $2,370,000

This is the only unusual contract flagged today, making it a high-focus signal. The 97th percentile open interest reading means this strike and expiry combination has seen almost no comparable activity historically, amplifying the significance of the trade.

CRM Seasonality

Late September and early October have historically represented a transitional period for enterprise software names like Salesforce, as fiscal quarter-end dynamics and IT budget planning cycles can create elevated volatility in either direction. With CRM's fiscal Q3 typically ending in October, any macro or sector-level headwinds in this window tend to receive outsized attention from institutional traders.

CRM Relative Performance

CRM's 2.87% decline on Monday puts it among the weaker performers in the enterprise software space today. With the stock at $227.33 and sitting roughly 15% below its 52-week high of $269.11, Salesforce has underperformed relative to its peak-to-current drawdown compared to what broader large-cap technology indices have experienced over a similar timeframe. The 52-week low of $147.58 remains a distant but relevant reference point, and the current price places CRM roughly in the middle of its annual trading band, leaving room for movement in either direction depending on macro and company-specific catalysts ahead.