Big Bet Placed on Uber Stock Falling, Options Activity Shows

Some large investors, often called "smart money" in financial circles, seem to be placing a significant bet that Uber's stock price could fall in the near future. This isn't just a small wager; recent activity in the options market shows a sizable amount of money being put behind this belief. Specifically, a large trade involving a put option contract for Uber caught attention. A put option essentially gives the buyer the right to sell a stock at a certain price (called the strike price) by a specific date. People buy puts when they think the stock price will go down. This particular trade involved buying a put option targeting $60 per share, set to expire in about three weeks. The cost for this single trade was over $1.7 million, which is considered a large sum for a single options position. At the time of this notable trade, Uber's stock was trading around $70.41 per share. The fact that a large investor is willing to spend over a million dollars betting the stock will drop below $60 (specifically needing it to fall below $57.83 to just break even on the option cost) suggests a strong conviction about potential downside in the short term, according to those who track this kind of market activity.