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Add Apple (AAPL) Call Spreads Ahead of Earnings Report Following Sharp Pullback to Support and Positive Quant Team Bias

Published on January 26, 2026

Jeff Jacobson

As we move thru earnings season, I like to work with our quant team’s earnings beat and miss baskets, built using their factor and sentiment models. Options strategies around those lists are an important part of our risk management framework. Along those lines, one of the names they have identified where earnings sentiment is strong and earnings quality is high is Apple (AAPL). What I particularly like about the setup for AAPL into earnings this quarter is the sharp pullback in the stock on both an absolute and relative basis heading into the report later this week (AAPL reports on 1/29 post-close). Not only did we see a nearly 16% decline from the December (all-time) highs but shares also underperformed the market (SPX) by over 14% over that time. Now that the stock has already moved lower and underperformed, perhaps we can see a meaningful rebound once they report earnings?

AAPL shares decline by almost 16% from their Dec highs to the recent lows. The pullback coincided with the April ’25 uptrend and the Oct lows

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AAPL/SPY relative spread also declined by over 14% from the highs and now seems poised to move back higher

Given the work the quant team has done, as well as the potentially bullish setup on earnings after a sharp decline, I like the setup here to add limited-risk upside option trades ahead of the print. With overall vol up due to earnings as well as decline in shares, I favor buying upside call spreads for Feb expiration at this time.

Trade:
Buy AAPL Feb 20^th 262.50 calls
Sell AAPL Feb 20^th 285 calls
Costs $3.95 (AAPL 254.60 ref)

Trade Details:

Buying the AAPL Feb upside call spread ahead of earnings and after a meaningful pullback on both an absolute and relative (to the market) basis
Call spread starts ~ 3% higher, and is capped to the upside just below the December all-time highs
Stock pulled back to the longer-term uptrend support and is still above the 200-day moving average even after the decline
Trade offers a 4.7x to 1 max payout on the limited-risk bullish bet
AAPL has been identified as an earnings “beat” candidate by the 22V quant team
Please contact me or a 22V sales rep for updated pricing and execution capabilities

AAPL 1-month implied vol is up sharply off the Dec lows. Why I prefer a call spread to outright calls at this time
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AI-generated content may be incorrect.

AAPL is one of the earnings “beat” names the 22V quant team has identified that reports this week

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