ThetaOwl

NVDA Flow Report

Analysis based on market close March 31, 2026

Flow Verdict

BiasBullish
Confirmation: Spot holds above $175 and net premium remains strongly positive.
Invalidation: Spot breaks below $172.50 with a surge in put premium, flipping P/C ratio >1.2.
Confidence:
8 / 10
base 5; +2 for massive net premium ($132M) and call-dominant P/C (0.78); +1 for GEX/flow alignment (positive GEX + bullish flow); -0 for data quality

Watch next session: $177.50 call/put activity for April 1st expiration pinning; Net premium direction for the $180 strike

Flow Summary

Net premium: +$132.4M bullish

P/C volume ratio: 0.78 — call-dominant

P/C OI ratio: 0.90 — moderate call lean

Overwhelmingly bullish premium flow, dominated by call buying in the $170-$180 range. The flow is concentrated in near-term expirations, suggesting a tactical bullish bet or hedging of short-term upside risk.

Notable Prints

#1
NVDA 4/1 $177.50 Call
Vol: 179,558
OI: 10,655
Vol/OI: 16.9x
IV: 9.8%
Notional: ~$31.9M (est. premium)
Intent: Massive directional call buying or short covering ahead of expiration.
Dual read: Bought (bullish) or sold to close (bearish). Extremely low IV suggests these are likely buyers taking cheap, short-dated delta.

Read-through: Dominant print of the day. Focus on pinning at $177.50 for April 1st expiry. Consistent with the bullish net premium flow.

#2
NVDA 4/1 $175.00 Put
Vol: 117,647
OI: 8,742
Vol/OI: 13.5x
IV: 6.5%
Notional: ~$7.6M (est. premium)
Intent: Selling of downside protection or closing of existing put positions.
Dual read: Sold to open (neutral/bullish) or bought to close (bullish). Low IV again points to sellers collecting minimal premium.

Read-through: Paired with the huge $175 Call flow, this suggests market makers or institutions are unwinding hedges or selling puts against a bullish view, expecting spot to hold above $175.

#3
NVDA 4/1 $177.50 Put
Vol: 41,478
OI: 407
Vol/OI: 101.9x
IV: 0.0%
Notional: Negligible (IV 0%)
Intent: Expiration-related adjustment or closing of microscopic positions.
Dual read: Noise. IV of 0% indicates these are likely worthless contracts being closed for pennies.

Read-through: Pure noise. Do not read direction from this print. Highlights the pinning activity around $177.50 for the April 1st expiry.

#4
NVDA 4/8 $192.50 Call
Vol: 1,425
OI: 125
Vol/OI: 11.4x
IV: 29.9%
Notional: ~$428k (est. premium)
Intent: Fresh OTM call buying for leveraged upside exposure.
Dual read: Bought (bullish breakout bet) or sold (neutral/writing). Volume/OI suggests new position.

Read-through: Small but notable bet on a move above $192.50 within a week, extending the bullish flow narrative to higher strikes.

#5
NVDA 4/24 $95.00 Put
Vol: 2,202
OI: 307
Vol/OI: 7.2x
IV: 94.5%
Notional: ~$208k (est. premium)
Intent: Far OTM put buying as tail-risk hedge or part of a defined spread.
Dual read: Bought (disaster hedge) or sold (premium collection). High IV suggests these are expensive, likely bought for protection.

Read-through: Not a directional signal for spot. Represents cheap (in dollar terms) portfolio insurance against a catastrophic drop, common in high-vol names like NVDA.

Institutional Positioning

Call additions: Heavy additions at $175, $177.50, $180 calls for April 1st and 8th expiries. Premium flow strongly positive in $170-$190 zone.

Put additions: Minimal. Notable put flow is concentrated in selling near-the-money ($175) or closing deep OTM positions, not buying new protection.

GEX/DEX consistency: Yes — strongly aligned. Positive GEX of +$316.1M indicates net long gamma, which aligns with call-buying flow and supports a pinning/mean-reverting regime near current spot.

OI clusters: Major call OI at $140 (114.8K), $160 (110.8K), $200 (~285K combined). Major put OI at $140 (91.7K). This creates a massive call wall at $200 and a significant put support level at $140.

Hedging evidence: Evidence of put selling (e.g., $175P 4/1) which reduces hedges, consistent with a bullish or less fearful stance. Far OTM put buys (e.g., $95P) are small notional tail-risk hedges.

Max pain context: Spot ($174.40) is far above near-term max pain ($90 for 3/23, $175 for 3/25-27). For the active weekly expiries, spot is trading right at or just below the max pain cluster ($170-$175), increasing pinning probability.

Signal vs Noise

~NVDA 4/1 $177.50 Put (41k volume): IV 0% makes this pure expiration noise, not a directional bet.
~Deep OTM put flow (e.g., $95P, $80P): Low-dollar tail-risk hedging, not a near-term directional signal.
~High volume in weekly options (April 1st, 8th): Likely contains significant market maker positioning and gamma hedging flows related to the pinning regime, not all pure directional institutional bets.
~The $0.50 Call with high OI (102,853) is a known artifact often related to corporate actions or listing quirks, not tradable flow.

Key Conclusions

💰Massive +$132M net premium flow is overwhelmingly bullish, dominated by call buying in the $170-$180 range.
📌Spot is in a strong Gamma Pinning regime (GEX +$316M), with heavy flow in weekly $175/$177.50 options, suggesting a battle around these levels into expiration.
🧱Major OI creates a distant but formidable call wall at $200 (~285K OI) and put support at $140 (92K OI), framing the medium-term range.
⚠️Watch for a break of the pinning range ($172.50-$177.50). A failure below $172.50 with rising put premium would challenge the bullish flow thesis.

Read the Flow analysis for NVDA for 2026-03-31. This AI-generated report covers regime classification, key price levels, strategy recommendations, and actionable trade ideas drawn from end-of-day options data including gamma exposure, delta exposure, and implied volatility.