---
title: "Semiconductor short positions ran into earnings that beat expectations"
type: "Topics"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/42234272.md"
description: "6/25 US market opened high, plunged, then recovered: QQQ fluctuated between 705–726 intraday, VOO was basically flat. However, the semiconductor sector was severely divided—NVIDIA fell below $200, Micron/SanDisk led the decline, with funds dumping bearish bets on the equipment/computing power chain while locking in long-term bullish positions against the trend. Looking at the three unusual moves below together, it paints a picture of a bet that's "short-term bearish, long-term bullish, and the shorts bought at the point of being proven wrong"..."
datetime: "2026-06-26T09:09:36.000Z"
locales:
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/42234272.md)
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/42234272.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/42234272.md)
author: "[Alpha-Flow](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/26895775.md)"
---

# Semiconductor short positions ran into earnings that beat expectations

6/25 US market: opened high, plunged, then recovered. QQQ swung between 705 and 706 intraday, VOO was basically flat. But the semiconductor sector was severely torn apart—Nvidia fell below $200, Micron/SanDisk led the decline. Funds were buying puts on equipment/computing power chains while locking in long-term bullish positions against the trend. Looking at the following three unusual trades together paints a picture of "short-term bearish, long-term bullish, with bears buying at the point of getting their faces slapped."

$Lam Research(LRCX.US)  
Direction: Bearish (suspected hedge)  
Structure: Primarily Buy Put + small Buy Call for top insurance  
Strike: Put $360 (8/21) · Call $440/$420  
Size: Put $9.53M / 2619 contracts (4 concentrated buys from 09:43–09:59), Call only about $1.06M total  
DTE: 57 days  
Insight: The largest single short position of the day, but bought in the early session on 6/25—subsequently, the company's earnings exceeded expectations and guidance was raised, closing +7.2%. The $9.5M Put was bought in the early session on earnings day and got slapped by a +7% move, making a directional active short less likely. It's more akin to institutional downside insurance for long core positions. Simply following the short now risks being bitten by fundamentals; watch if the Put continues to be added after the rebound to discuss direction.

$NVIDIA(NVDA.US)  
Direction: Bullish (long-term)  
Structure: Buy Call · LEAPS stock replacement  
Strike: $300 (2028-06-16)  
Size: $4.92M / 1930 contracts (three stacked buys in the late session 15:29–15:54)  
DTE: 722 days  
Insight: At the moment when Nvidia fell below $200 and competition concerns peaked, three late-session trades poured $4.92M into $300 Calls expiring in 2028—this isn't betting on a rebound; it's using LEAPS to lock in a two-year bullish exposure, avoiding short-term volatility. The logic supporting this trade: short-term negatives (AMD/Qualcomm competition, Micron catching up) hit valuation sentiment, but long-term computing power demand hasn't been disproven. The entry barrier is high (two-year, deep out-of-the-money); ordinary positions are better off watching the $200 spot level rather than directly copying the LEAPS.

$Broadcom(AVGO.US)  
Direction: Bearish  
Structure: Buy Put  
Strike: $310 (2026-10-16)  
Size: $1.82M / 1352 contracts (single late-session buy at 15:41)  
DTE: 113 days  
Insight: Broadcom had just surged due to the OpenAI joint chip development news, then fell −0.8% that day. A single $1.82M late-session buy into the $310 medium-term Put (~18% below current price) is a medium-term bearish bet on "good news exhausted + semiconductor highs." This looks more like a true directional bet than the Lam Research one: bought after the news was realized, not on an earnings day, deep out-of-the-money medium-term. If following the downside, use $310 as the lower observation level and $382 above as a clearer stop-loss logic.

These three trades can be seen as a layered view of "medium-term bearish on semiconductor equipment/chips + long-term bullish on AI computing power leaders"—bears concentrated in segments where good news has been realized or expectations exceeded, while bulls used LEAPS to lock in Nvidia's two-year options exposure. Corresponding to the broader market, 6/25 was a structural pullback of "index flat, semiconductors under pressure alone," not a systemic shift.

Next focus points:

$NVIDIA(NVDA.US) whether the $200 round-number level can hold;

$Lam Research(LRCX.US) whether the $360 Put continues to be added after the rebound;

July Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) component earnings season

—Any one of these three turning points will determine which side of this "short-term bearish, long-term bullish" picture materializes first.

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