# Tesla options look cheap before Roadster reveal

> With Tesla's Roadster launch on October 1st, options traders see an opportunity despite low implied volatility.
- Title: Tesla options look cheap before Roadster reveal · CNBC
- Summary: With Tesla's Roadster launch on October 1st, options traders see an opportunity despite low implied volatility. Tesla options are trading at unusually low…
- Keywords: tesla, options trading, roadster, implied volatility, call spread, stock trading, business, finance, options, look, cheap, reveal
- Source: CNBC — https://cnbc.com/2026/09/23/tesla-roadster-reveal-is-creating-a-unique-options-opportunity-says-mike-khouw.html
- Author: Michael Khouw
- Published: 2026-09-23T18:52:11+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: tesla, options trading, roadster, implied volatility, call spread, stock trading, business, finance
## Roadster coming October 1st
Tesla will reveal its Roadster on October 1st at SpaceX's McGregor test site in Texas. The company is taking fifty thousand dollar deposits to reserve one.
## Options are unusually cheap
Tesla's one-month implied volatility sits at the thirty-sixth percentile, well below average despite the upcoming Roadster reveal and October's typically high volatility.
## Cybercab launch disappointed
Tesla's Cybercab launch in early September underwhelmed analysts. Wells Fargo noted the robotaxi service faces execution issues, though the stock has since recovered.

> execution issues
## Deposit structure signals confidence
Reservations require a five thousand dollar credit card deposit plus a forty-five thousand dollar wire within ten days. Tesla reopened the book two weeks before the reveal.
## History of missed deadlines
Tesla took fifty thousand dollar deposits for the Roadster in two thousand seventeen and has missed multiple delivery dates since. Skeptics note the Cybertruck launch also proved embarrassing.
## Tesla's manufacturing edge
Few companies can design, manufacture and distribute complex consumer hardware at scale. Tesla has shown it can do what most outside China manage, including mass-market EVs and charging networks.
## Valuation premium explained
Tesla trades at two hundred thirteen times forward earnings versus twenty-two times for Uber and seven times for Ford. The premium reflects optionality in autonomy, robotics and energy.
## Multiple catalysts in October
A Semi event on September twenty-fourth, the Roadster reveal on October first, and third-quarter deliveries follow. Thirty-day implied volatility sits around forty-one percent.
## The recommended trade
Rather than buy calls outright, use a call spread to cut premium outlay. The October thirtieth three hundred eighty slash four hundred forty call spread covers the Roadster reveal and earnings.
## Key takeaway

Tesla options are trading at unusually low volatility ahead of the October 1st Roadster reveal, creating a potential trading opportunity for investors betting on a stock breakout.