Navitas Semiconductor Draws Bullish Options Bets as AI Pivot Cuts Through Revenue Slump

Navitas Semiconductor jumps 15% as heavy call options signal renewed conviction; Q1 beats estimates, AI data-center pivot drives growth, and Q2 guidance points to recovery.

A surge in call options activity is signaling renewed conviction in Navitas Semiconductor, even as the chip developer’s top line remains under heavy pressure. The stock jumped 15 percent on Friday to close at $18.20, with nearly 14,000 call contracts changing hands at the $18 strike price and another 5,200 at the $20 strike — a concentration that suggests traders are positioning for a run toward that next technical hurdle in the weeks ahead.

The options frenzy followed first?quarter results that, while still down sharply year?over?year, managed to clear analyst estimates on both revenue and earnings. Navitas reported $8.6 million in sales for the period ending March 2026, beating the consensus forecast of $8.22 million. That figure represents a decline of almost 40 percent from the same quarter last year, but it also marks an 18 percent sequential increase — evidence the company may be finding a floor in a cyclical downturn. On the bottom line, the loss per share came in at $0.04, a penny better than Wall Street had projected.

Management has been pivoting aggressively toward high?performance power chips for artificial?intelligence data centers and renewable energy systems, a segment that grew 35 percent year?over?year during the quarter. The shift helped lift gross margin to 39 percent, a solid reading in a market still grappling with supply constraints. Navitas’s balance sheet adds to the comfort: it holds $221 million in cash with no debt, giving it ample flexibility to compete in the fast?moving AI infrastructure space.

For the current quarter, the company guided revenue in a range of $9.5 million to $10.5 million, implying another sequential gain of roughly 16 percent. The outlook reinforces management’s belief that a stabilization has taken hold in the power?semiconductor market, an assessment underpinned by broader industry data. Microchip Technology recently described April 2026 as its strongest booking month in nearly four years, while NXP Semiconductors and AMD have both flagged robust growth in data?center spending tied to artificial intelligence.

Navitas currently commands a market capitalization of approximately $4.2 billion. The combination of a clean balance sheet, a focused AI strategy, and a slate of supportive peer reports has investors betting the recovery has legs. The heavy call volumes at the $18 and $20 strikes show that a portion of the market expects the stock to keep climbing — but the next weeks’ worth of semiconductor earnings from the sector’s heavyweights will be the real test of whether that optimism is justified.