Unusual Options Activity in Pinterest Stock Caught My Eye. How to Trade It Here.

Browsing through yesterday’s unusual options activity data, Pinterest’s (PINS) Sept. 18 $21 put caught my attention. One of only two on the day for the social media platform. However, that was good enough to put it in the top 100. 

Here’s why it makes a smart bet.

The Pinterest Options in Question

Normally, I wouldn’t include anything expiring in less than a week, but since there were only two, I included the $22 put expiring next Friday. It’s immaterial to my commentary. 

As I said, the Sept. 18 $21 put was in the top 100 of unusually active options, and that’s even more relevant because I included those expiring in less than a week -- which make up a lion’s share of options traded. Still, Pinterest’s Vol/OI (volume-to-open-interest) ratio was quite high at 31.21.

The volume of 7,427 for the Sept. 18 $21 put was about 17% of the overall, which was 1.3 times its 30-day average. Not a massive day, but still higher than normal. What’s notable about the 7,427 contracts is that all but 27 were for one trade at 1:08 ET. The trade price of $2.38 was neither bullish nor bearish, although the stock’s overall P/C OI ratio of 0.95 yesterday has drifted higher since the beginning of April, when it was 0.58.

Needless to say, a big fish made a trade for 7,400 contracts.

The Possible Options Strategies at Play

I don’t think I’ve ever written about a call or put with the TLCT code, which is a crossed trade where a broker has a buy and sell order for the same call or put and strike price, but still reports the transaction to an exchange. I guess the best way to think about it is that it’s different from a TLET trade, which is also electronic, but between two different brokers. 

Back to the option strategy at play here. There could be several.

1. If you already own Pinterest, it could be a Protective Put, where you buy a long put to protect the stock’s downside. However, most TLCT trades are multi-leg, so it would more likely be a Married Put, which is similar, but you simultaneously buy the stock and a long put. They accomplish the same thing. 

2. Another would be a Protective Collar, which combines a protective put with a Covered Call. It’s also a hedge strategy to protect Pinterest’s downside. 

3. Depending on your outlook for Pinterest, it could be a Bear Put Spread or a Bull Put Spread. The former is bearish, hence the name. It involves buying a long put and selling a short put at a lower strike price. The latter is the inverse and is bullish. You sell a short put and buy a long put at a lower strike price. Both have defined risks and rewards. 

4. The fourth possibility is a Short Ratio Put Spread, which combines the bear put spread above with a naked put. It involves buying one long put ATM (at-the-money) while selling two short puts at a lower strike price. This strategy is used when you think the share price will fall slightly or rise. 

5. The final strategies I’m looking at are Long Straddles and Long Strangles. The former involves buying a call and a put with the same strike price and expiration. You’re expecting a big move up or down. The upside is unlimited, while the downside is capped at the cost of the two options. The latter involves buying a call and a put with the same expiration that are OTM (out-of-the-money). Unlike a straddle, the put strike price is lower than the call strike price. 

There are more at play, some with complex set-ups. I’ll leave those for another day. 

The Best One for Pinterest’s Sept. 18 $21 Put

I would normally try to find a matching 7,400 trade for the $21 put. I can’t see anything from the options flow. So, either the broker didn't report one or more other legs, or it’s a married put. 

In this instance, it would mean that the trader bought 740,000 shares of Pinterest [7,400 put contracts * 100 = 740,000] for $15.75 million [740,000 * $21.28 (the share price when the put trade was made)] and simultaneously bought 7,400 Sept. 18 $21 puts for $1.76 million.

So, the investor/institution paid 11.2% of the share price to protect the downside for 19 weeks. Even though PINS is up 19% in the last month, it is down 16.8% in 2026. While the big fish might be bullish -- I generally remain optimistic about PINS -- it’s a prudent move.