Instacart Put Options Spike 144% to 8,267 Contracts Amid E-Commerce Jitters

For e-commerce watchers, the sharp uptick in Maplebear put options is a red flag worth investigating. Even as Instacart’s parent company posted a 13.6% revenue jump to $1.02 billion last quarter, the options market is flashing a warning that some traders expect a pullback. This could foreshadow headwinds in online grocery, a bellwether for broader retail digital transformation.

Unusual options trading activity caught the attention of market watchers on Monday, June 29, 2026, as two Nasdaq-listed companies—Fluence Energy (FLNC) and Maplebear Inc., the parent of Instacart (CART)—experienced sharp spikes in options volume. Fluence Energy saw call option volume surge 195% above its daily average, with 35,562 contracts traded, while Maplebear, a key player in online grocery delivery, saw put option volume jump 144% to 8,267 contracts. These moves occurred against a backdrop of broader market consolidation, with each company's underlying stock showing modest gains: FLNC inched up 0.3% to $19.33 and CART added 0.5% to $47.70.

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These moves occurred against a backdrop of broader market consolidation, with each company's underlying stock showing modest gains: FLNC inched up 0.3% to $19.33 and CART added 0.5% to $47.70.

For Fluence Energy, the heightened call buying positions the stock as a potential bet on the renewable energy storage sector, which has been buoyed by increasing electricity demands from AI data centers and government infrastructure initiatives. However, the company's fundamentals paint a mixed picture. Fluence's market capitalization stands at $3.56 billion, but it carries a negative price-to-earnings ratio of -53.46 and a net margin of -1.62%, indicating that the company is not yet profitable on a GAAP basis. The stock carries a beta of 2.76, suggesting it is highly volatile relative to the market, and its 50-day moving average of $19.98 is above the current trading price, hinting at near-term technical weakness. The May 6, 2026 earnings report showed a revenue of $464.89 million—well below the $614.93 million analysts had expected—although it did post a narrower-than-expected loss per share. Adding to the bearish undercurrent, a major shareholder, the Qatar Investment Authority, sold approximately 2.87 million shares at $21.00 on May 15, locking in $60.2 million in proceeds. This insider sell-off may have contributed to the stock's decline from its 1-year high of $33.51 and could be a factor in the speculative appetite for short-term calls, as traders might be betting on a technical rebound or a potential short squeeze.

Maplebear, meanwhile, faced a distinctly different options narrative: a spike in put buying, which typically signals bearish sentiment or hedging against a potential price drop. Instacart's parent company, however, has been delivering solid financial results. In its May 6 quarterly report, revenue came in at $1.02 billion, up 13.6% year-over-year and slightly above the $1.01 billion consensus. Earnings per share of $0.57 missed by just $0.01, and the company boasts a healthy net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 18.67%. Analyst sentiment has been cautiously optimistic: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $47.00 with an 'equal weight' rating in early May, and Citizens Jmp reiterated its 'market outperform' target of $60.00 in mid-June. Despite these positives, the put volume surge suggests that some market participants see risks on the horizon—possibly linked to competitive pressures from Amazon, DoorDash, or traditional grocery chains expanding their own delivery networks, or broader consumer spending shifts in a post-pandemic economy.