ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) Expected Move
Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.
ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management - Leveraged industry, with a market capitalization near $236.8M, listed on CBOE, carrying a beta of -2.32 to the broader market. ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that match the performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures IndexTM. public since 2011-01-04.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $26.94
- Expected Move
- 16.9%
- Implied High
- $31.49
- Implied Low
- $22.39
- Front DTE
- 34 days
As of May 15, 2026, ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) has an expected move of 16.89%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $22.39 to $31.49 from the current $26.94. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.
VIXY Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move
With ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF pricing an expected move of 16.89% from $26.94, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.
Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →
Per-expiration expected move for VIXY derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $26.94 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.
| Expiration | DTE | ATM IV | Expected Move | Implied High | Implied Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2026 | 34 | 58.9% | 18.0% | $31.78 | $22.10 |
| Jul 17, 2026 | 63 | 63.2% | 26.3% | $34.01 | $19.87 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 126 | 79.9% | 46.9% | $39.59 | $14.29 |
| Dec 18, 2026 | 217 | 82.8% | 63.8% | $44.14 | $9.74 |
| Jan 15, 2027 | 245 | 85.5% | 70.0% | $45.81 | $8.07 |
| Jan 21, 2028 | 616 | 94.8% | 123.2% | $60.12 | $-6.24 |
Frequently asked VIXY expected move questions
- What is the current VIXY expected move?
- As of May 15, 2026, ProShares - VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) has an expected move of 16.89% over the next 34 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $22.39 to $31.49 from the current $26.94. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
- What does the VIXY expected move mean for traders?
- Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
- How is VIXY expected move calculated?
- The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.