(Bloomberg) -- Betting that Nvidia Corp.’s shares would barely budge after the chip maker posted results has been a losing wager for most of the last two years. Wednesday was an exception.

Nvidia’s shares edged about 3% lower in morning trading in New York to $484.21, after the company posted results on Tuesday following the market close. In the listed options markets where traders bet on how much shares will fluctuate, investors had been bracing for a move up or down of more like 7%. 

Prices for the derivatives slumped on Wednesday. Ultra-short term maturities such as the $455 put or the $525 call with expiry on Nov. 24 are falling more than 90% in value as implied volatilities are being reset. The drops are providing nice gains for those that sold so-called straddles, or a call option and a put option with the same strike, in a wager that the stock’s moves would be relatively muted. 

 

On Tuesday, Nvidia posted higher revenue and earnings than Wall Street analysts had on average expected. The relatively modest stock movement on Wednesday may reflect shares having been priced at a level that, analysts said before earnings came out, required a perfect outcome to generate big gains.

Nvidia has been the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index this year, rising more than 230%, as investors bet that growth in artificial intelligence technology will fuel demand for the company’s chips.   

The company’s shares have risen or fallen about 7.5% on average in the day after the past eight earnings reports, and some gains have been large: In May, when the company posted quarterly results after the market close, its shares jumped more than 24% the next day. In February, the stock jumped more than 14%. 

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