Mike Khouw, an options strategist and contributor to CNBC’s “Fast Money,” says Tesla’s new Cybercab is a “gamechanger” and he’s putting his money where his mouth is with a structured options trade that thrives on a steady grind higher rather than an immediate moonshot.
Khouw, who lives in Northern California, says he’s spotted the sleek, steering-wheel-less cabs cruising around Palo Alto, near Tesla’s Northern California headquarters. Unlike the sensor-laden prototypes from other autonomous vehicle efforts, the Cybercab “looks like the future is now,” he wrote, contrasting it with the visible cameras and lidar bolted onto rival test cars. The driverless rollout—Tesla’s first with no steering wheel or pedals—has begun to reshape how the market views the EV maker.
A Re-Repricing Trade
In the short term, the market is a voting machine, Khouw notes, and options trades are inherently short-term bets. The question, he says, is whether the visible Cybercab launch can reprice Tesla from an “EV maker with a software story” into a company that’s changing the world. The stock’s initial response was positive: shares closed near $376 after a 5.4% jump on launch day, though that’s still well below the 52-week high near $499.
Khouw’s technical read is bullish. Over the past year, Tesla’s three strongest-performing indicators have been MACD, DMI, and RSI—and all three are currently flashing bullish, according to his analysis. That tilts him toward buying a long call.
The Trade: A Long Call Funded by a Short Strangle
His specific play: buy the December 390 call with a 50 delta (sometimes written as 50^). That option costs $32.40 per contract, roughly 8.6% of the current stock price. To offset the time decay, or theta, working against that long call, Khouw is selling a nearer-dated strangle—the Oct. 23 425 call and 330 put—which collects $16.80 in premium.
“Theta works for the trade first,” he explains, because the shorter-dated Oct. 23 strangle should decay faster than the longer-dated December call. If Tesla’s stock chops between roughly 330 and 425 into that October expiration, the short options expire worthless, and the trader is left holding the December call at a lower effective cost basis.
After that, Khouw says he may roll the short options up or down in strike and further out in time, depending on where the stock is trading.
The Scenarios
Khouw lays out three primary paths for the stock:
Base case: Tesla drifts higher toward 390–410. The short options expire, the long call retains time value, and the trader can reset the position by rolling the shorts.
Sharp spike through 425 before Oct. 23: That’s a great outcome, but it forces a decision on the short call—buy it back, roll up and out, or let assignment convert the trade. Either way, Khouw says, “this will be profitable to the upside because we own the December calls.”
Break below 330: The short put comes into play. That’s not ideal, but it’s the defined risk of financing the trade with a put sale. Selling a put carries the obligation to buy shares at the strike, but 330 would represent a discount to the prevailing stock price. And the trader would still own the December calls, offering an upside kicker if the stock rebounds.
Khouw adds one practical caveat: selling puts ties up significant cash in your account.
The Bigger Picture
He acknowledges the competitive landscape. The Cybercab launch is limited, with a small unsupervised fleet, and Waymo already boasts scale and trip volume Tesla hasn’t matched. The Cybercab is also a two-seater with no cargo space, and its unit economics only improve if utilization and regulatory approval both expand quickly.
Still, Khouw issues a challenge: “I challenge anyone to name a company that has proven it can deliver superb EVs at scale better than Tesla.”
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/04/cybercabs-are-a-game-changer-says-mike-khouw-heres-how-hes-trading-tesla.html
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Do your own research and consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.
