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LivestreamMenuTraders work in the S&P options pit at the Cboe Global Markets exchange in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If the S&P 500 is to make a new record, it may require the “Magnificent Seven” to get back into gear and, according to a new survey of options positioning across the most-actively traded stocks in the S&P 500, that’s exactly what might happen this earnings season.
The analysis, which compares the price of one standard deviation out-of-the-money calls to the price of their equivalent puts, and compares that figure to its range over the past year, creates a Venn diagram of stocks whose calls are not just in high demand, but are ALSO in uniquely high demand by that stocks’ own standard. For example, if calls are much more expensive than puts, but that’s how the stocks’ options typically trade, it won’t make the cut.
Meta and Microsoft ranked the highest in the analysis, based on Nations Indexes’ “RiskDex” metric, which tracks the call/put pricing skew, followed by Amazon, Tesla and Advanced Micro Devices.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
MSFT and Meta year to date
Meta’s RiskDex score of 0.75, meaning one-standard-deviation out-of-the-money calls are 25% more expensive than the equivalent puts, was the lowest in the analysis, and in the 91st percentile of call-heavy readings for the score over the past year. Microsoft’s ratio was 0.79, in the 93rd percentile of readings.
“When you get this many names that have this much call skew, I think it’s a contrary indicator,” Scott Nations, president of Nations Indexes, said on the phone. “The bullishness is so extended that they’re priced for perfection. I would think these people are setting themselves up for disappointment – look at how Nvidia gave great numbers and just kind of melted.”
If the stock reward the bullish positioning after earnings, it would mean a big rotation in market leadership. Meta and Microsoft haven’t made records in almost a year, and Amazon has trailed the Nasdaq 100 year-to-date.
Amazon’s RiskDex was just 0.98, meaning calls were barely more expensive than puts, but a uniquely bullish lean by the stock’s standard, scoring in the 92nd percentile of bullish bias.
Tesla and AMD were in the top 80th percentile of bullish skew compared to their 52-week history, with ratios around 0.9 each.
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