Susquehanna’s $868B Options Book Added Gold and Ramped Netflix 857% in Q4 2025

Susquehanna International Group filed its Q4 2025 13F with $868 billion in reported assets — a slight dip from $875B in Q3 — but the movement beneath the surface tells a sharper story. The firm ramped Netflix (NFLX) by 857% in share count, opened fresh gold and silver hedges via AGQ, IAU, and Royal Gold (RGLD), exited its entire Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) position, and initiated a new inverse Nasdaq bet through SQQQ. For an options-centric trading house running nearly 14,000 line items, those shifts aren’t noise — they’re recalibrated hedges.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

• AUM: $868B (down from $875B in Q3 2025), 13,927 holdings
• Top position: SPY at $77.3B (8.9% of portfolio), heavily via puts
• NFLX ramp: Shares surged from 9.5M to 91.0M (+857%), value rose to $8.5B
• Crypto exit: Fully exited FBTC ($371M in Q3) — no Bitcoin ETF exposure remains
• New gold/silver hedges: AGQ ($432M), IAU ($261M), RGLD ($333M) — all new positions
• Inverse Nasdaq: New SQQQ position at $570M (ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ)
• Concentration: Top-5 at 27.2%, top-10 at 37.4% — extremely diversified for the AUM
• Turnover: 50 new positions, 50 exits — measured rotation, not a reset

Filing Snapshot

Metric	Q4 2025	Q3 2025	Change
Total AUM	$868.0B	$874.9B	-0.8%
Holdings count	13,927	13,896	+31
Report date	Dec 31, 2025	Sep 30, 2025	—
Filing date	Feb 17, 2026	—	—
New positions	50	—	—
Exited positions	50	—	—

The Options Architecture: Why Every Position Has a Put Layer

Susquehanna is not a typical asset manager. It’s a quantitative trading firm whose 13F is dominated by options market-making positions. Nearly every top holding — SPY, QQQ, TSLA, NVDA, META — appears with “Put” option type flags. The $77.3B SPY position, for instance, carries only $10B in sole voting authority against $113B in total shares, meaning the majority is hedged or synthetically replicated through derivatives.

This matters because reading Susquehanna’s 13F like a long-only fund leads to wrong conclusions. The firm’s “holdings” reflect options book delta exposure, not buy-and-hold conviction. When Susquehanna ramps NFLX by 857%, it’s likely adjusting delta hedges on a massive options book, not making a fundamental call on streaming economics.

Netflix: 857% Share Increase in a Single Quarter

The most dramatic move in the filing is Netflix. Shares jumped from 9.5 million to 91.0 million — an 857% increase — while the reported value actually dropped from $11.4B to $8.5B. That divergence (more shares, less value) signals this is almost certainly a put-side position expansion: Susquehanna added delta hedging shares as its options book on NFLX grew.

NFLX was one of the strongest performers in Q4 2025, which means market makers needed to scale hedges as volatility and open interest climbed. This is options infrastructure, not a directional bet — but the scale is striking.

Gold, Silver, and the Precious Metals Pivot

Q4 introduced three new precious metals positions that didn’t exist in Q3:

• AGQ (ProShares Ultra Silver): $432M — 2x leveraged silver exposure, a volatility vehicle
• RGLD (Royal Gold): $333M — a gold royalty and streaming company
• IAU (iShares Gold Trust): $261M — direct gold ETF

All three carry put flags, suggesting they’re hedging vehicles. Combined with the existing $17.0B GLD position (also put-flagged), Susquehanna now has over $18B in gold and silver-linked instruments. This isn’t a gold bug thesis — it’s the firm pricing in demand for precious metals options from clients who are making that thesis.

FBTC Exit and the SQQQ Addition

Two moves that deserve pairing: the firm fully exited its $371M Fidelity Bitcoin ETF position while simultaneously opening a $570M SQQQ (ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ) position.

The FBTC exit removes all direct crypto-ETF exposure from the book. Meanwhile, SQQQ is a 3x inverse Nasdaq 100 product — the kind of instrument that an options desk uses for tail-risk hedging or as part of a volatility arbitrage structure. These aren’t opposing bets; they’re portfolio construction tools that reflect shifting client demand and hedging requirements.

Core Holdings: Still ETF-Heavy, Still Put-Dominated

The top-5 positions account for 27.2% of the portfolio and remain ETF-centric:

1. SPY: $77.3B (8.9%) — anchor position, massively hedged via puts
2. QQQ: $42.9B (4.9%) — Nasdaq 100 exposure, put-flagged
3. TSLA: $38.8B (4.5%) — second-largest single-stock put position
4. NVDA: $36.1B (4.2%) — AI/semiconductor delta hedge
5. META: $25.0B (2.9%) — put-flagged across six line items

The top-10 concentration at 37.4% is remarkably low for an $868B book. For comparison, most custody banks and asset managers in this AUM range run 25-35% in the top-5 alone. Susquehanna’s breadth reflects its market-making role: it carries exposure across thousands of names because its clients trade options on thousands of names.

What Changed from Q3: The Measured Rotation

With 50 new positions and 50 exits, Susquehanna’s Q4 turnover was modest relative to its 13,927-holding book. The firm isn’t reshuffling its entire portfolio — it’s fine-tuning exposure at the edges.

The additions lean toward hedging instruments (SQQQ, AGQ, IAU, RGLD) while the exits removed crypto exposure (FBTC). That pattern suggests the firm’s clients shifted demand toward precious metals options and away from crypto products during Q4 — which aligns with gold’s rally and Bitcoin’s choppy Q4 performance.

ServiceNow: Quiet Expansion

ServiceNow (NOW) grew from 2.0M to 13.5M shares (+569%), pushing its value from $1.9B to $2.1B. Like NFLX, the share growth outpaced value growth, suggesting put-side delta hedging expansion. NOW was another strong Q4 performer with elevated options activity, making this move consistent with Susquehanna’s market-making model.

Q&A: Common Questions

Why does Susquehanna’s 13F show “Put” on almost everything?

Susquehanna is an options market maker. When the firm sells put options to clients, it hedges by holding shares. The 13F reports these hedge shares, which is why most positions appear with put flags. The reported values represent delta hedge exposure, not outright long positions.

Does the 857% NFLX increase mean Susquehanna is bullish on Netflix?

Not necessarily. A massive share increase with a put flag means Susquehanna’s options book on NFLX grew dramatically. The firm added hedging shares to manage the delta on its options positions. It reflects client demand for NFLX options, not a house view on the stock.

Why did Susquehanna add gold and silver positions in Q4?

The new AGQ, IAU, and RGLD positions are almost certainly tied to growing client demand for precious metals options. With gold rallying strongly in late 2025, options activity on gold and silver products surged, requiring Susquehanna to build delta hedges on those instruments.

Should I follow Susquehanna’s positions as investment signals?

Susquehanna’s 13F is one of the hardest to read directionally because the firm is a market maker, not a stock picker. Its positions reflect options hedging requirements. Following these moves as bullish or bearish signals would be a fundamental misread of the filing.

How does the $868B AUM compare year-over-year?

Q4 2024 AUM was $663B, making this a 31% year-over-year increase. However, this growth reflects expanded options market-making activity and rising equity prices, not necessarily net new capital inflows.

What does the FBTC exit signal about crypto?

The exit of the $371M Fidelity Bitcoin ETF position likely reflects declining client demand for Bitcoin options or a shift in how the firm hedges crypto exposure. It doesn’t necessarily signal a bearish view on Bitcoin — Susquehanna may still have crypto exposure through other instruments not reported on the 13F.