Options Income Strategy | Earnings Season Hits as Bitcoin Approaches $80,000! Crypto Miner IREN Sees Amplified Volatility

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Thank you all for your continued attention and support of the "Daily Options Rent Collection Strategy" column. To make our content more focused, this column is officially renamed "Options Rent Collection" effective today.

The term "Rent Collection" distills the core of options selling strategies: capturing volatility and time value. The column will maintain its consistent style while continuously improving, offering more concise narratives and clearer strategic logic to cover popular US stock targets.

1. IREN: High volatility ahead of earnings report, with nearly 12% intraday range and intense capital博弈 (game/trading activity)

$IREN Ltd (IREN.US)$ Closed down 1.69% on Friday at $41.88. During the session, it hit a high of $45.93 and a low of $40.86, resulting in an intraday amplitude of 11.90%. Trading volume reached $2.114 billion, with a volume ratio of 1.018 and a turnover rate of 16.12%. Despite the slight decline at close, the rapid pullback after surging to $45.93 indicates significant divergence between bulls and bears.

Technical Analysis:

Looking at the trend over the past 30 trading days, $IREN Ltd (IREN.US)$ After hitting a low of $32.22 on July 17, the stock surged 19.57% on July 20 with heavy volume. It then plunged sharply to $28.93 on July 29, only to rebound significantly by 30.54% the next day. *Note: The source text mentions rebounding to $8.26, which appears to be a factual error given the context of prices in the $30-$40 range; however, translating faithfully:* ...rebounded significantly to $8.26. In August, the stock price oscillated widely in the $36–$45 range. On August 12–13, it saw two consecutive days of heavy-volume upward attacks, reaching a high of $49.19 (intraday on August 13), but failed to hold these higher levels afterwards.

The short-term pattern shows typical wide-range consolidation at high levels.Watch the resistance level near the August 13 intraday high of $49.19; support is seen at the $40 integer mark. Regarding volume, recent average daily trading volume has remained at the $1.8–$2.1 billion level, with the turnover rate consistently around 16%, indicating extremely high capital activity but unclear direction.

News Analysis:

Market attention is focused on two key areas:First, IREN is scheduled to release its earnings report after the market close on August 27,with earnings expectations becoming the core variable in current capital flows;Second, Bitcoin prices are approaching $80,000,boosting sentiment in the crypto asset sector. As a dual-play stock with exposure to both Bitcoin mining and AI cloud computing, IREN's share price is driven by both crypto market trends and AI computing power demand.

IREN is in a critical transition phase from Bitcoin mining to AI cloud computing services, having previously secured a major AI cloud contract with Microsoft. The earnings report will validate the realization pace of AI cloud revenue and the progress of computing capacity expansion.

If the earnings report confirms accelerated growth in AI cloud revenue, it could trigger a valuation re-rating from a "mining stock" to an "AI infrastructure stock." Conversely, if the transition lags behind expectations or capital expenditure pressures become excessive, the valuation (currently at a TTM P/E of approximately 54.4x) may face compression. Key variables to watch include the August 28 earnings data, progress on AI cloud contract execution, and whether Bitcoin can sustain levels above $80,000.

Major Bank Views:

Among the nine covering analysts, 77.78% rate the stock as Buy, 22.22% as Hold, with no Sell ratings. The average target price is $81.38, ranging from a high of $100 (Bernstein) to a low of $50 (Goldman Sachs). The core bullish thesis among major banks centers on revenue growth driven by AI cloud contracts and the potential for computing capacity expansion.

2. Rent Collection Strategy

IV Analysis

IREN's current Implied Volatility (IV) is 103.11%, with an IV percentile of 13.49%. Although the absolute IV exceeds 100%, indicating rich premium levels, the current IV is in a relatively low range compared to the past year based on historical percentiles. Meanwhile, the 30-day Historical Volatility (HV) is as high as 131.39%, sitting at the 92.86th historical percentile.

Earnings will be released on August 28. The IV of short-term contracts approaching the earnings date has surged to 152.53%, reflecting extremely high market expectations for volatility around the earnings event. For sellers, choosing contracts that span across the earnings period allows for collecting substantial premiums in a high absolute IV environment, while avoiding direct impact from short-term earnings volatility.

Option Selling Strategy

Cash Secured Put

Sell 1 contract of $IREN Ltd (IREN.US)$Sell the 2026-09-04 $33.5 Put, and reserve sufficient cash for potential assignment.

Investment Thesis:

IREN is in a critical phase of transitioning to AI cloud computing. Most institutions have given it a Buy rating, with target prices significantly higher than the current price. For investors bullish on the long-term thesis but concerned about volatility around earnings, consider selling the $33.5 Put. If the stock price remains range-bound or rises, you keep the premium after 11 days; if it pulls back to around $35, it effectively allows you to enter a position at a lower price.

Covered Call

Hold 100 shares $IREN Ltd (IREN.US)$At the same time, sell 1 contract of IREN 2026-09-25 60 Call

Trade Logic:

Investors holding IREN shares face high volatility risks around the earnings report. In the short term, the stock price is oscillating repeatedly within the $40–$46 range, and the $50 resistance level has not yet been effectively broken.

Investors may consider selling Calls to collect premiums, thereby enhancing portfolio returns and lowering the cost basis. If the stock price rises above $60 and the option is exercised, it effectively locks in profits at the target price, ensuring participation in the main upside move. The downside of this strategy is that if the stock continues to rise beyond $60, further gains may be missed.

3. Risk Control Notes

Although short-option strategies generally have a high probability of profit, investors must still implement sound risk management:

- Position management is core. The greatest risk for option sellers lies in black swan events. It is recommended that margin usage for a single underlying asset does not exceed 20% of total capital. Do not sell options beyond your capacity to absorb losses just to chase premiums.

- Pay attention to rolling positions for Covered Calls. When a Covered Call becomes deep in-the-money, if you remain bullish on the underlying stock, consider buying back the current option to close the position and simultaneously selling an option with a further expiration date and a higher strike price. This helps avoid having the underlying shares forcibly sold at a lower price.

- Be wary of left-tail risks when selling Cash-Secured Puts. If the stock price drops significantly due to deteriorating fundamentals, do not stubbornly hold on; instead, cut losses or roll down positions based on your risk tolerance. Pay special attention to IREN, which will release its earnings report after hours on August 27. The results could trigger significant volatility in the stock price, so assess your maximum loss tolerance in advance.

Make good use of the Options Seller Hub to understand income strategies for selling options and earnOption premiums！

Options Risk Disclosure

An option is a contract that gives the holder the right—but not the obligation—to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specified date. Option prices are influenced by multiple factors, including the current price of the underlying asset, the strike price, time to expiration, and implied volatility. Implied volatility reflects the market's expectation of future volatility over the life of the option and is derived by back-solving from the Black-Scholes option pricing model. It is commonly viewed as an indicator of market sentiment. When investors anticipate higher volatility, they may be willing to pay more for options to hedge their risk, leading to higher implied volatility. Traders and investors use implied volatility to assess the attractiveness of option prices, identify potential mispricings, and manage risk exposure.

Disclaimer

This content does not constitute an offer, solicitation, recommendation, advice, opinion, or any guarantee regarding any securities, financial products, or instruments. The risk of loss in trading options can be substantial. In certain circumstances, your losses may exceed the initial margin deposit. Even if you place contingent orders, such as 'stop-loss' or 'limit' orders, there is no guarantee they will prevent losses. Market conditions may render such orders unexecutable. You may be required to deposit additional margin on short notice. If you fail to meet the required margin within the specified timeframe, your open positions may be liquidated. Nevertheless, you remain fully responsible for any resulting deficit in your account. Therefore, prior to trading options, you should thoroughly study and understand options and carefully consider whether such trading aligns with your financial situation and investment objectives. If you trade options, you should become familiar with the procedures for exercising options and handling expiration, as well as your rights and obligations upon exercise or expiration. Options trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for all investors. Investors should carefully read 'Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options' before engaging in any options trading strategy.

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