Do you know how many stocks you can trade options on?
As of the latest data, approximately 4,500 to 5,000 stocks in the U.S. stock market have options available for trading. This includes stocks listed on major exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, and smaller exchanges. The number can vary slightly over time due to market conditions, new listings, and delistings.
But as a general rule you only want to trade options on companies with a valuation over $1B
As of the most recent data, there are approximately 2,500 to 3,000 companies in the U.S. stock market with a market valuation over $1 billion. The exact number can fluctuate due to changes in stock prices, market conditions, IPOs, and delistings. This includes companies across various sectors and exchanges, such as the NYSE and NASDAQ.
Here’s a general breakdown of companies with listed options categorized by market valuation:
- Mega Cap (Valuation > $200 billion)
- Examples: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon
- Number of companies: ~20-30
- Large Cap (Valuation $10 billion to $200 billion)
- Examples: Visa, Nvidia, Procter & Gamble
- Number of companies: ~300-400
- Mid Cap (Valuation $2 billion to $10 billion)
- Examples: Zillow Group, Peloton, DraftKings
- Number of companies: ~600-800
- Small Cap (Valuation $300 million to $2 billion)
- Examples: CarGurus, American Eagle Outfitters, Axos Financial
- Number of companies: ~1,000-1,500
- Micro Cap (Valuation < $300 million)
- Examples: Many smaller biotech firms, startups, and niche companies
- Number of companies: ~1,500-2,000
These numbers provide a rough estimate and the actual figures may vary. The availability of options trading is more common among larger companies due to higher trading volumes and investor interest.
Here are the top 50 companies to trade options on
The stocks with the highest options trading volume are typically those with significant market capitalization, high liquidity, and active investor interest. These stocks often include major technology companies, popular consumer goods companies, and some financial institutions. Here is a list of some of the top 50 stocks by options trading volume:
- Apple Inc. (AAPL)
- Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
- Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
- Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
- NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)
- Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
- Facebook, Inc. (META)
- SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)
- Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)
- Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA)
- Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)
- Roku, Inc. (ROKU)
- Square, Inc. (SQ)
- Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)
- Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (ZM)
- Boeing Co. (BA)
- Twitter, Inc. (TWTR)
- Walt Disney Co. (DIS)
- American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL)
- Nio Inc. (NIO)
- Intel Corporation (INTC)
- AT&T Inc. (T)
- General Electric Company (GE)
- Ford Motor Company (F)
- Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
- Bank of America Corporation (BAC)
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
- Coca-Cola Company (KO)
- Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
- Chevron Corporation (CVX)
- Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
- Wells Fargo & Company (WFC)
- Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)
- Lyft, Inc. (LYFT)
- Moderna, Inc. (MRNA)
- Snowflake Inc. (SNOW)
- DraftKings Inc. (DKNG)
- Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM)
- PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL)
- DocuSign, Inc. (DOCU)
- Tilray, Inc. (TLRY)
- Lucid Group, Inc. (LCID)
- Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND)
- GameStop Corp. (GME)
- AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY)
- Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM)
These stocks are known for their high trading volumes in options markets, often due to their market influence, volatility, and investor interest. The specific rankings can vary over time based on market conditions and news affecting these companies.