NKE Stock: Unusual Options Activity Flags Both Bullish and Bearish Bets as Nike Trades Near 52-Week Lows

April 23, 2026

By TrendSpider Editor

NKE Stock: Unusual Options Activity Flags Both Bullish and Bearish Bets as Nike Trades Near 52-Week Lows

Two unusual options contracts totaling $1,143,400 in combined premium hit the tape for Nike, Inc. today, drawing attention to the stock at a precarious technical level. Nike shares are trading at $44.66, down 2.25% on the session, and sitting dangerously close to their 52-week low of $42.09, a stark contrast to the 52-week high of $80.165. The diverging nature of the two contracts, one bullish and one bearish, suggests the options market is deeply divided on where Nike goes from here.

Key Drivers of the NKE Stock Move

Main Catalyst: Two unusual options contracts were flagged today: a CALL at the $50 strike expiring March 19, 2027 with a size of 1,200 contracts and $602,400 in premium, and a PUT at the $37.50 strike expiring January 21, 2028 with a size of 1,000 contracts and $541,000 in premium. Combined, these trades represent $1,143,400 in total premium and signal significant institutional interest at both ends of the directional spectrum.
Bull Case: The call buyer is wagering on a recovery back above $50, which would represent more than 12% upside from the current price of $44.66. With an open interest fill rate of 41% on that contract, the position is meaningful but not yet crowded, leaving room for additional accumulation if sentiment shifts.
Bear Case: The put buyer is targeting a move down to $37.50, which would represent a decline of approximately 16% from current levels and push the stock well below its 52-week low of $42.09. The 77% open interest reading on that put contract indicates it was largely opening new exposure rather than closing existing positions, a notably aggressive downside bet with nearly two years until expiration in January 2028.

The forward setup for Nike remains challenging. The stock is currently trading less than 6% above its 52-week floor, and today's 2.25% decline only compounds the pressure. The put contract's long-dated expiry through January 2028 suggests at least one large player is not looking for a quick bounce but rather positioning for a prolonged period of weakness or a more severe fundamental deterioration. Nike has faced well-documented headwinds including slowing consumer spending on discretionary goods, ongoing restructuring efforts, and intensifying competition from brands like On Running and Deckers. The call position, while bullish, is also out of the money with Nike needing to rally more than 12% just to reach the $50 strike before March 2027. Until the stock can reclaim higher ground and put distance between itself and the $42.09 52-week low, the technical and sentiment backdrop favors caution.

NKE Unusual Options Activity

Contract 1: CALL | Strike: $50.00 | Expiry: March 19, 2027 | Volume: 1,200 | Open Interest Fill: 41% | Premium: $602,400 | Position: Out of the Money
Contract 2: PUT | Strike: $37.50 | Expiry: January 21, 2028 | Volume: 1,000 | Open Interest Fill: 77% | Premium: $541,000 | Position: Out of the Money

Total unusual premium across both contracts came in at $1,143,400, with zero additional call or put contracts flagged beyond these two. The skew between the two positions is nearly even in dollar terms, reinforcing the thesis that the smart money is genuinely split on Nike's trajectory over the next one to two years.

NKE Seasonality

Late April has historically been a transitional period for Nike as the company prepares to report fiscal fourth-quarter results in the coming months, often generating elevated options activity around that window. The unusually long expiration dates on both of today's flagged contracts suggest these are not event-driven plays tied to a single earnings print but rather macro-level positioning on Nike's longer-term brand and revenue recovery story.

NKE Relative Performance

Nike's current price of $44.66 reflects a steep drawdown from its 52-week high of $80.165, representing a decline of roughly 44% peak to trough over the past year. That level of underperformance stands out sharply against the broader consumer discretionary sector and major indices, which have navigated their own volatility but have not seen comparable single-stock drawdowns of that magnitude among large-cap peers. Nike's proximity to its 52-week low of $42.09 keeps it in deeply distressed territory relative to where it traded just twelve months ago.