AMD earnings loom as options imply 7.3% swing amid tech sell-off

Options traders are bracing for a significant swing in Advanced Micro Devices shares after the chipmaker reports quarterly earnings after the market close on August 4, 2026. The options market is pricing in a 7.3% move, above the median 6.4% of the last eight quarters.

Historically, AMD shares have moved an average of 16.5% in the month after earnings. They climbed 18% following one report and fell 18% after another.

AMD’s technical picture has deteriorated sharply. Momentum and trend indicators—including Stochastics, Ichimoku, MACD, Williams %R, and key moving averages—all signal a short bias.

The weakness comes amid a broad sell-off in tech hardware and semiconductor stocks. Since July 1, 2026, 45 companies in these sectors have reported earnings. Despite solid results—38 beat revenue expectations, 37 posted earnings growth, and 36 beat profit estimates—the average one-month price performance has been a drop of 13.4%. Thirty-six of the 45 companies have traded lower since July 1, even as the S&P 500 has remained flat and the Nasdaq-100 has pulled back about 5%.

Capital is rotating out of tech hardware and into defensive sectors such as Healthcare, Financials, and Industrials, creating a high bar for IT hardware stocks. Strong reports are meeting heavy sell-on-news pressure.

To navigate the potential downside and the post-earnings volatility crush, some traders are considering a calendar spread. The strategy involves selling a shorter-dated September 11 put to capture the collapse in implied volatility after the report, while holding a longer-dated November put to maintain directional exposure if the stock continues to drift lower. The short-dated option’s time decay helps finance the longer-dated position and offsets its time decay.