Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) stock is up 3.5% to trade at $173.74 today, the data analytics company a leading government and defense software vendor benefitting from the U.S.-Venezuela headlines. As the U.S. continues to be involved in more geopolitical strife for 2026, Palantir will be investors' crosshairs for a while it looks like.
That will be nothing new for options traders. Palantir just made its fourth-straight appearance on Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of equities that attracted the highest options volume in the past two weeks, with more than 3,936,644 calls and 2,409,009 puts changing hands. The December 190 call is the top trade during this timeframe, with the weekly 1/2 200-strike call also seeing notable attention.
For a stock up 118.4% year-over-year and in a long-term uptrend, analysts sure seem asleep. Of the 21 brokerages covering PLTR, 17 maintain "hold" or worse ratings, meaning a round of overdue upgrades could keep the wind at the equity's back.
Now looks like a great time to weigh in with options. This is per PLTR's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 46% that sits in the 7th percentile of annual readings, indicating options traders are pricing in low volatility expectations.
