Barclays Equity Derivatives Strategy has recommended targeted options trades on three companies, citing imminent earnings events and thematic industry drivers as the motivating catalysts.
For Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Barclays recommended buying call spreads ahead of the company’s earnings report scheduled for Wednesday. The bank noted that NVDA options are pricing a roughly 5.3% implied move, which Barclays says is approximately in line with the two-year average of about 4.6%. The bank also pointed to a recent inversion in call skew - NVDA upside skew ranks among the most inverted going into earnings over the past 10 years, according to Barclays. The firm emphasized Nvidia as one of its best-positioned semiconductor names within its Disruption '26: Top Ideas in Tech framework.
Barclays also recommended call-spread trades for Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), specifically call spreads that expire on July 17, 2026. The bank described the current environment as the most favorable setup for energy services in two decades, driven by structurally higher oil and a shift toward energy security that it expects will support a multi-year capex upcycle. Barclays characterized Halliburton as a high-beta vehicle to U.S. activity and pricing inflection, noting visibility toward improving trends in the second half of 2026 and a strong earnings ramp in 2027. The bank highlighted that Halliburton’s stock has posted near 45-year record long- and short-term performances of 109% and 26%, respectively.
For Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW), Barclays recommended buying call spreads ahead of the company’s earnings scheduled for May 27, 2026. In its Disruption '26: Top Ideas in Tech report, Barclays lists Snowflake as one of the better-positioned software names on the basis of structural AI exposure: Snowflake’s data platform, the bank writes, enables a centralized view across disparate enterprise systems. Barclays identified potential upside from an acceleration in Q1 product revenue to approximately $1.3 billion and from a possible raise to FY27 product revenue guidance.
Each recommendation is framed through Barclays’ equity derivatives lens, using options-implied moves and skew dynamics for short-dated earnings events and thematic revenue/capex narratives for longer-dated expiries. The trades referenced are directional call-spread plays, which limit upside participation to predefined strike widths and cap downside to the net premium paid.
Context for investors
- Barclays is using options-implied volatility and skew to express tactical views into specific earnings dates for NVDA and SNOW.
- For HAL, Barclays prefers a time-frame that captures an expected multi-year capex upcycle tied to structural oil market dynamics and energy security considerations.
- The recommendations are expressed via call spreads, which are defined-risk bullish structures.