SpaceX bulls are once again betting on huge quick profits after Rocket Lab’s rapid growth

space x Stocks are recovering after falling 35% from their post-IPO highs, and options traders are amassing all forms of bullish positions, from short-term speculative to big-target investments.

Volume in SpaceX options is down, with about 500,000 contracts traded through midday Monday, about half the daily average since trading began on June 15, according to Cboe LiveVol data. Still, the positioning is definitely bullish.

According to ThinkOrSwim data, traders bought more than four times as many calls as puts, and the total amount of calls was twice as many as puts. Of the top 10 contracts, seven are on call and nine expire on Thursday. Shares rose 7%, the highest since last Tuesday, on speculation that SpaceX might buy a mobile phone company and an agreement between Rocket Lab and Iridium Communications that renewed excitement around satellite communications.

“From a technical perspective, SpaceX held onto all-time lows around $147, which tells us there is buyer demand on the pullback,” Charles Moon, technology and momentum specialist at Prosper Trading Academy in Chicago, said by phone. President Moon added that he purchased SpaceX stock at the same time as the 170th strike call.

One notable deal in SpaceX sums up the situation nicely. On Monday morning, when the stock was at $155, someone sold about $450,000 of a 150-strike put expiring in January 2027 and then bought an equal number of 160-strike calls, a trade that has already paid off as the stock hit its highest price since last Tuesday.

There was also no shortage of gamblers.

The second most popular contract by volume was a 300-strike call that expires Thursday, a 10-cent trade that SpaceX needs to nearly double by the end of the holiday-shortened week.

“The 300-strike buyers are trying to force a gamma squeeze on these trades, but the market makers know better at this point and the chances of that happening are low,” Moon said, referring to the trading phenomenon popularized by GameStop in which low-probability events work against market makers.

Traders looking for shocking moves may want to keep an eye on it rocket labadded 16% during the session. Options volume was 50% above the 30-day average, and calls outperformed puts by a factor of four.