CAT options flow: unusual options activity in Caterpillar Inc.
Updated 28 September 2026, 09:54 ET
Over the last week the tape recorded 399 unusual options prints in Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), $27.1M of tracked premium, close to even between bullish and bearish premium. Bullish premium was $11.7M against $9.2M bearish; $13.9M went into calls and $13.2M into puts, a put call ratio of 0.95. The largest print was $1.2M of CAT 21 Jan 2028 $600 puts on 22 September 2026, executed at bid. The last session with prints, 28 September 2026, added 2 prints and $85K of premium. CAT closed at $821.58 on 25 September 2026, up 2.0%.
This week's unusual flow
Prints from 21 September 2026 to 28 September 2026, 6 sessions. Delayed tier: every print is shown twenty minutes after it executed, and the page is rebuilt after each session.
Net premium is bullish minus bearish premium. The put call ratio is put premium divided by call premium, weighted by money rather than by contract count. Sweeps is the share of prints executed across several exchanges at once. Read the guide: Reading the Pulse.
Largest prints of the week
| Date | Contract | Type | Size | Open int. | Premium | Execution | Sentiment | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Sep 2026 | CAT 21 Jan 2028 $600 puts | Trade | 280 | 471 | $1.2M | At bid | Bullish | Whale |
| 21 Sep 2026 | CAT 17 Sep 2027 $720 calls | Trade | 32 | 1 | $615K | At ask | Neutral | Notable |
| 22 Sep 2026 | CAT 21 Jan 2028 $600 puts | Trade | 140 | 471 | $598K | At bid | Bullish | Notable |
| 21 Sep 2026 | CAT 21 May 2027 $900 calls | Sweep | 66 | 1 | $538K | At ask | Neutral | High conviction |
| 22 Sep 2026 | CAT 21 Jan 2028 $1,040 calls | Trade | 50 | 150 | $434K | At bid | Bearish | |
| 23 Sep 2026 | CAT 15 Jan 2027 $780 calls | Trade | 44 | 186 | $390K | At ask | Bullish | Notable |
| 23 Sep 2026 | CAT 19 Jan 2029 $800 calls | Trade | 15 | 74 | $338K | At ask | Bullish | Notable |
| 24 Sep 2026 | CAT 25 Sep 2026 $600 calls | Trade | 15 | 20 | $304K | At ask | Bullish | Notable |
| 21 Sep 2026 | CAT 16 Oct 2026 $830 puts | Sweep | 85 | 110 | $303K | Above ask | Bearish | High conviction |
| 23 Sep 2026 | CAT 21 Jan 2028 $740 calls | Trade | 15 | 506 | $297K | At ask | Bullish | Notable |
| 24 Sep 2026 | CAT 16 Oct 2026 $890 puts | Sweep | 33 | 86 | $289K | At bid | Bullish | Notable |
| 24 Sep 2026 | CAT 16 Jun 2028 $600 calls | Trade | 8 | 23 | $236K | At midpoint | Neutral |
Size above open interest means the trade opened a position larger than everything that existed in the contract the night before. Above ask and below bid are the most aggressive executions. Read the guide: Size versus open interest.
Where the money is aimed
| Expiry | Prints | Premium | Calls share | Net premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jan 2028 | 43 | $5.0M | 32% | +$1.6M |
| 16 Oct 2026 | 57 | $3.9M | 32% | +$83K |
| 18 Dec 2026 | 65 | $3.5M | 54% | +$526K |
| 19 Jan 2029 | 20 | $2.0M | 70% | +$734K |
| 17 Sep 2027 | 25 | $1.9M | 70% | +$515K |
| 20 Nov 2026 | 34 | $1.8M | 40% | -$648K |
The most premium, $5.0M, is aimed at the 21 Jan 2028 expiry; the nearest expiry with unusual prints is 16 Oct 2026.
A print in a contract expiring this week is a view about the next few days, often about a known event; a print months out is a different kind of statement. Read the guide: 0DTE options flow.
The last session, 28 September 2026
| Date | Contract | Type | Size | Open int. | Premium | Execution | Sentiment | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Sep 2026 | CAT 15 Jan 2027 $780 calls | Trade | 5 | 185 | $47K | At ask | Neutral | |
| 28 Sep 2026 | CAT 20 Nov 2026 $440 calls | Trade | 1 | 3 | $38K | At bid | Bearish |
Every print in CAT with its full detail, the live tape, one tap filters and saved screeners: open CAT in Options Sentiment Screener.
Price
The live quote and the price chart sit beside the ticker's flow in the app: open CAT in Options Sentiment Screener.
Analysts
The most recent analyst targets on file, from 14 firms, have a median of $985, 19.9% above the last close. The last 90 days brought 1 upgrade and 1 downgrade.
Calls bought at a strike above the average target are a bet that the analysts are too cautious; puts far below the price in a name they like are protection or a strong disagreement. Read the guide: Reading one ticker's flow.
About Caterpillar Inc.
- Exchange
- NYSE
- Sector
- Industrials
- Industry
- Machinery
- Headquarters
- Peoria, Texas
- Website
- caterpillar.com
Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, backhoe loaders, compactors, cold planers, and other vehicles. Resource Industries segment provides electric rope shovels, draglines, hydraulic shovels and rotary drills. Energy & Transportation segment offers reciprocating engines, generator sets, integrated systems and solutions. Financial Products segment provides operating and finance leases, installment sale contracts, working capital loans, and wholesale financing plans.
In the same sector
Flow pages for other Industrials names in the S&P 500:
GE General Electric Co.GEV GE Vernova Inc.RTX RTX Corp.DE Deere & Co.ETN Eaton Corp. plcUNP Union Pacific Corp.BA Boeing Co.UBER Uber Technologies, Inc.
Learn
- What unusual options activity means
- Reading one ticker's flow
- Sweeps, blocks and where a trade printed
- Size versus open interest
- Bullish or bearish, how a print's sentiment is inferred
- The conviction score and whale prints
The live tape for CAT with every print's execution detail, one tap filters for calls, puts, sweeps and 0DTE, saved screeners and, for Realtime subscribers, push alerts and no delay. The same screen is in the iOS and Android apps.
Open CAT in Options Sentiment Screener